overall

From Middle English overall, overal, from Old English ofer eall, ofer ealle (“over all”), equivalent to over +‎ all. Compare Saterland Frisian oural, uural (“everywhere”), West Frisian oeral (“everywhere”), Dutch overal (“everywhere”), German Low German overall, överall (“everywhere; all over”), German überall (“all over; everywhere”), Danish overalt (“everywhere”), Swedish överallt (“everywhere; overall”).

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

• Audio (US)

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overall (comparative more overall, superlative most overall)

1. All-encompassing, all around.
   • 1949, W. Keith Hancock and Margaret M. Gowing, British War Economy:

     We believe also that a controlled economy cannot be understood without some overall view of the controlling institutions: hence our short studies — shorter by far than the original drafts — of the central administration.

• big, entire, total, whole; see also Thesaurus:entire
• exhaustive, thorough; see also Thesaurus:comprehensive

overall (not comparable)

1. Generally; with everything considered.

   Overall, there is not enough evidence to form a clear conclusion.

• all things considered; see also Thesaurus:mostly

overall (plural overalls)

1. (Britain) A garment worn over other clothing to protect it; a coverall or boiler suit. A garment, for manual labor or for casual wear, often made of a single piece of fabric, with long legs and a bib upper, supported from the shoulders with straps, and having several large pockets and loops for carrying tools.
2. (in the plural, US) A garment, worn for manual labor, with an integral covering extending to the chest, supported by straps.

• overslop
• slop

• overall in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• overall in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• all over, all-over, allover, valerol

Borrowed from English overall, from over + all.

• IPA^(key): /ɔvɛˈroːl/, /ɔvɛˈral/

overall c

1. a coverall

• overall in Nationalencyklopedin (needs an authorization fee).