overlap

verb

over·​lap ˌō-vər-ˈlap 

overlapped; overlapping; overlaps

transitive verb

1

: to extend over or past and cover a part of

The roof shingles overlap each other.

2

: to have something in common with

Baseball season overlaps the football season in September.

intransitive verb

1

: to occupy the same area in part

The two towns overlap.

2

: to have something in common

Some of their duties overlap.

overlap

ˈō-vər-ˌlap 

noun

Synonyms of overlap

• overlie
• lap
• overlay

Examples of overlap in a Sentence

The roof shingles overlap each other.

Baseball season overlaps football season in September.

Some of your duties overlap his.

Recent Examples on the Web

Lisa Robertson’s Riverwork draws on all these influences, and many more, to evoke overlapping Parises that chime with one another like a ghostly carillon. — Ange Mlinko, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026

Rather than relying on a traditional air traffic control model, operators would provide planned and actual flight information to a system designed to prevent overlapping routes from creating conflicts. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026

His videos Continentes, confetes (2023) and Encontro amoroso do círculo com o quadrado (2023) were shown in a room filled with colored paper that bounced across three white walls and geometric shapes that slowly overlapped each other, respectively. — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026

Related Stories What begins as an attempt to live with their loss gradually takes them into an uncertain space where memory, perception and reality begin to overlap. — Ed Meza, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1704, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for overlap

• handicap
• thunderclap
• wiretap
• app
• cap
• chap
• clap
• crap
• flap
• frap
• gap
• hap

Kids Definition

overlap

verb

over·​lap ˌō-vər-ˈlap 

1

: to lay or lie over (something) so as to partly cover

that piece overlaps the edge

2

: to have something in common

political and social interests that often overlap

3

: to occupy the same area in part

the photos overlap

overlap

ˈō-vər-ˌlap 

noun