as in intersecting
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as in overlying
to lie over parts of one another
the brochures on the display table should overlap but not so much that the titles are obscured
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Recent Examples of overlapping
Maria Balaska, Time, 20 Dec. 2025
Gretchen McKay, Twin Cities, 25 Feb. 2026
More importantly, his overlapping interests as a basketball player, musician and student have opened up all sides of his effort.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026
The compensation strategist explains that there are a few overlapping market conditions that allowed peanut butter raises to rise in popularity today and back in 2008.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026
Artificial intelligence is driving two overlapping shifts that are reshaping marketing.
—Stefano Puntoni, Harvard Business Review, 23 Feb. 2026
During this challenging period, I was tasked with navigating an overlapping global and national crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter Movement, the tragic murder of George Floyd, and the murder of Tyre Nichols.
—Charlotte Observer, 20 Feb. 2026
The dinosaur had overlapping scales along its tail and different-sized spikes covering its body, according to a news release from the Institute of Natural Sciences.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 19 Feb. 2026
Bogaerts and Rafaela share a special bond, despite never overlapping on Boston’s big-league roster.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 18 Feb. 2026
Expanding to three days during Cactus League spring training for the first time since 2018, the eighth edition of the festival brings 30 artists with no overlapping sets to two main stages.
—Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
In the 1800s, for example, the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel used the term Zeitgeist—the spirit of times—to refer to such ubiquitous and overlapping influences that operate across both macro and micro levels.
—Maria Balaska, Time, 20 Dec. 2025
Verb
Fold in half and place, slightly overlapping, on a warm individual plate, 3 enchiladas per serving.
—Gretchen McKay, Twin Cities, 25 Feb. 2026
More importantly, his overlapping interests as a basketball player, musician and student have opened up all sides of his effort.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026
The compensation strategist explains that there are a few overlapping market conditions that allowed peanut butter raises to rise in popularity today and back in 2008.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026
Artificial intelligence is driving two overlapping shifts that are reshaping marketing.
—Stefano Puntoni, Harvard Business Review, 23 Feb. 2026
During this challenging period, I was tasked with navigating an overlapping global and national crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter Movement, the tragic murder of George Floyd, and the murder of Tyre Nichols.
—Charlotte Observer, 20 Feb. 2026
The dinosaur had overlapping scales along its tail and different-sized spikes covering its body, according to a news release from the Institute of Natural Sciences.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 19 Feb. 2026
Bogaerts and Rafaela share a special bond, despite never overlapping on Boston’s big-league roster.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 18 Feb. 2026
Expanding to three days during Cactus League spring training for the first time since 2018, the eighth edition of the festival brings 30 artists with no overlapping sets to two main stages.
—Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 17 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overlapping
Adjective
-
Four actors sit in chairs squared up to the lip of the stage and recount their intersecting lives and deaths from what seems to be the future.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Across these intersecting stories, Al-Khatib looks beyond the spectacle of war, resisting the notion that lives can be reduced to headlines and politics.—
Teresa Xie,
NPR,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
However, those sea surface temperatures will be far warmer than the overlying air temperatures.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
But clever techniques can work around this limitation, including adaptive optics, which rapidly reshapes a mirror in the telescope to counter the motion of overlying air.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
27 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Published in the journal Matter, the underlying mechanisms behind the inferior photochemical of polymer acceptor and develops a method to enhance both efficiency and stability through small-molecule incorporation.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Feb. 2026
-
Although the underlying mechanisms may differ from tissue to tissue, and from organism to organism, the apparent ubiquity of these processes suggests that fracturing is a useful, if counterintuitive, way to sculpt tissues and their vital features.—
Clare Watson,
Quanta Magazine,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Flames were lapping from the home when firefighters arrived, a spokesperson said on social media.—
Kendrick Calfee
February 21,
Kansas City Star,
21 Feb. 2026
-
In winter, the frothy surf turns to soft, lapping waves and camels lumber down the mountain for a dip.—
Anna Zacharias,
Condé Nast Traveler,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Again, the superposed vector can be decomposed into its constituents.—
Anil Ananthaswamy,
Quanta Magazine,
13 Apr. 2023
-
Like entanglement, the superposed states essential to its power are fragile, collapsing when measured or otherwise perturbed by the outside world.—
Gabriel Popkin,
Science | AAAS,
3 June 2021
Verb
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As music played in the background, overlaying captions appeared on screen beside Bader, 30, who underwent bariatric surgery in December 2023.—
Zoey Lyttle,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Trying to tap the ice sheet, which covers 80 percent of Greenland, for minerals is unappealing, given that all the necessary supplies would need to be brought inland by helicopter and there are kilometers of ice overlaying parts of the rock.—
Stephanie Pappas,
Scientific American,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
This one being of post-war emancipation, when the convergent forces of wanting to achieve a sun tan and wanting to show some skin became newly acceptable among socially progressive young people.—
Daniel Rodgers,
Vogue,
28 Dec. 2025
-
The winter conditions also change significantly along this 145-mile stretch, beginning with freezing temperatures in Bellingham, snow accumulation in the Skagit Valley’s convergent zone and rain throughout the greater Seattle area, often with heavy accumulations that can cause on-road flooding.—
Crai S Bower,
Outside,
18 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overlapping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overlapping. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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