overlie

verb

over·​lie ˌō-vər-ˈlī How to pronounce overlie (audio)

transitive verb

1
: to lie over or upon
2
: to cause the death of by lying upon

Examples of overlie in a Sentence

the puzzle pieces overlay one another in complete disarray on the floor there will be freezing rain tonight, so we can expect to find a thick layer of ice overlying the car windshield in the morning
Recent Examples on the Web Trumbo, Villanueva and their colleagues especially wanted to understand whether Europa’s surface CO2 deposits come from reservoirs of the compound dissolved in the dark waters of the subsurface ocean, which is sandwiched between overlying ice and the moon’s rocky center. Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2023 That’s a very specific cause of cardiac arrest that occurs when there is blunt force trauma to the heart, or the chest wall that overlies the heart. Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2023 With this treatment, Talei is typically targeting the lamina propria—a thin layer of connective tissue in the body of the lips—but says the same cocktail can be injected into the philtrum (above the lip) to rejuvenate the underlying SMAS while helping to smooth the overlying skin. Jolene Edgar, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 June 2023 This gives the attacker far-reaching access to the system, bypassing all overlying security measures. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 11 May 2023 There's also evidence that Europa's ocean occasionally sends plumes of seawater erupting out into space through cracks in the overlying crust. Lee Billings, Scientific American, 19 Apr. 2023 The concretions preserved the soft-bodied organism from further decay, but unfortunately the fossils are often flattened due to the weight of the overlying sediment. David Bressan, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023 The new bat fossil seemed to be smaller in size than the other two bat species found from similar, overlying levels in the lake limestone, and its bones seemed to be stouter. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Apr. 2023 The freeways are the concrete net that overlies it all, but only real Angelenos enter their mesmerizing alpha state. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overlie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of overlie was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near overlie

Cite this Entry

“Overlie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overlie. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

overlie

verb
over·​lie -ˈlī How to pronounce overlie (audio)
overlay -ˈlā How to pronounce overlie (audio) ; overlain -ˈlān How to pronounce overlie (audio) ; overlying -ˈlī-iŋ How to pronounce overlie (audio)
: to lie over or upon

Medical Definition

overlie

transitive verb
over·​lie ˌō-vər-ˈlī How to pronounce overlie (audio)
overlay -ˈlā How to pronounce overlie (audio) ; overlain -ˈlān How to pronounce overlie (audio) ; overlying -ˈlī-iŋ How to pronounce overlie (audio)
: to cause the death of by lying upon

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