overlapping 1 of 2

Definition of overlappingnext

overlapping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of overlap
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of overlapping
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
There are weak patches, but the four actors (Wilde, MVP Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz) keep it buoyant, with a crackling energy that makes the endless streams of overlapping talk play like jazz. Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 31 Jan. 2026 However, this interjection increases the probability of overlapping or even conflicting instructions to vendors. Kelly G. Richardson, Oc Register, 30 Jan. 2026 Told together, the overlapping stories deal with issues of mental illness, lives of quiet desperation, and the pitiless march of time. David Morgan, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2026 The jacket will boast not one but two parallel rows of buttons, with wide overlapping front lapels. Julia Guerra, InStyle, 28 Jan. 2026 Mercury started as a modern SMB neobank, and now expanding to overlapping products. Alex Lazarow, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026 Instead, investigators placed the blame on multiple overlapping problems — including the location of a helicopter route in some of the nation's most congested airspace, along with critical equipment failures and human errors. Joel Rose, NPR, 27 Jan. 2026 The proposal cited two reports that bemoaned the multiple, often overlapping and sometimes competitive, state and local entities that govern the schools. Dan Walters, Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2026 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Two classics of dysfunctional domestic drama by Yasmina Reza and Edward Albee, respectively, are presented in repertory with overlapping casts. Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overlapping
Adjective
  • Production is currently underway on director Sam Mendes’ upcoming intersecting films on The Beatles.
    Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Spanning 13 tracks, the album navigates the complexities of the human experience through the intersecting lenses of technology and nature.
    Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register, 30 Jan. 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
  • Framing perfectly normal facial swelling as evidence of an underlying health problem is, at best, disingenuous.
    Georgia Casey, Allure, 6 Feb. 2026
  • And a third is that there may be similar underlying risk factors.
    Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • 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
  • The Kohala Coast is living proof that nature is medicine, from the birdsong to the Tradewinds rustling the coconut palms to the deep blue-green waters of the Pacific lapping the shoreline.
    Everett Potter, Forbes.com, 18 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
  • 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
  • The only thing Bloom didn't show on camera were the stocks her husband, David Pownall, purchased for her, as the content creator noted in overlaying text at the beginning of the video.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025
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

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Cite this Entry

“Overlapping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overlapping. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.

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