Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
Overhear — O ver*hear , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Overheard}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Overhearing}.] [AS. oferhi[ e]ran.] [1913 Webster] 1. To hear more of (anything) than was intended to be heard; to hear by accident or artifice. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To hear again … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
overhear — (v.) to hear what one is not meant to hear, 1540s, from OVER (Cf. over) + HEAR (Cf. hear). The notion is perhaps to hear beyond the intended range of the voice. Old English oferhieran meant to not listen, to disregard, disobey (Cf. OVERLOOK (Cf.… … Etymology dictionary
overhear — ► VERB (past and past part. overheard) ▪ hear accidentally or secretly … English terms dictionary
overhear — [ō΄vər hir′] vt. overheard, overhearing to hear (something spoken or a speaker) without the speaker s knowledge or intention … English World dictionary
overhear — o|ver|hear [ˌəuvəˈhıə US ˌouvərˈhır] v past tense and past participle overheard [ ˈhə:d US ˈhə:rd] [T] to accidentally hear what other people are saying, when they do not know that you have heard ▪ I overheard part of their conversation. overhear … Dictionary of contemporary English
overhear — verb past tense and past participle overheard, (T) to accidentally hear what other people are saying, when they do not know that you have heard: I overheard part of their conversation. | overhear sb saying sth: Christie overheard the men saying… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
overhear — UK [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈhɪə(r)] / US [ˌoʊvərˈhɪr] verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms overhear : present tense I/you/we/they overhear he/she/it overhears present participle overhearing past tense overheard UK [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈhɜː(r)d] / US [ˌoʊvərˈhɜrd] past … English dictionary
overhear — verb (overheard; overhearing) Date: 1549 transitive verb to hear without the speaker s knowledge or intention intransitive verb to overhear something … New Collegiate Dictionary
overhear — verb ADVERB ▪ accidentally PHRASES ▪ couldn t help overhearing sth ▪ Excuse me for interrupting, but I couldn t help overhearing what you were saying. Overhear is used with these nouns as the object: ↑conversation, ↑ … Collocations dictionary
overhear — [[t]o͟ʊvə(r)hɪ͟ə(r)[/t]] overhears, overhearing, overheard VERB If you overhear someone, you hear what they are saying when they are not talking to you and they do not know that you are listening. [V n] I overheard two doctors discussing my case … English dictionary
