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”).

• (UK) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊ.vəˈɹɔːl/
• (UK) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.və.ɹɔːl/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (US) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊ.vɚˈɔl/
• (US) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.vɚ.ɔl/
• (cot–caught merger, dialects of Canada;, adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊ.vɚˈɑl/
• (cot–caught merger, dialects of Canada;, noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.vɚ.ɑl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Canada, dialects of the US;, adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊ.vɚˈɒl/
• (Canada, dialects of the US;, noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.vɚ.ɒl/
• Rhymes: -ɔːl

overall (comparative more overall, superlative most overall)

1. All-encompassing, all around.
   • 1949, W. Keith Hancock, 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.

   • 2025 September 27, Julia Jacobo, “Million-year-old skull could rewrite timeline of human origin, researchers say”, in ABC News‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 February 2026:

     "The cranium is clearly plesiomorphic in overall form, presenting primitive traits shared by earlier hominins," the authors wrote.

• 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

• length overall

overall (plural overalls)

1. (British) 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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “overall”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• all over, all-over, allover, valerol

Borrowed from English overall, from over + all. First attested in 1917.

• IPA^(key): /ɔvɛˈroːl/, /ɔvɛˈral/, /ʊvɛˈroːl/, /ʊvɛˈral/

overall c

1. a pair of coveralls / (UK) overalls (with sleeves – compare snickarbyxor)

   Ta på dig overallen

   Put on your coveralls

   en arbetare i overall

   a worker in coveralls

   1. a boiler suit

      Synonym: arbetsoverall

      1. a student boilersuit

         Synonyms: studentoverall, (slang) ovve

   2. a jumpsuit

      Synonym: (as a fashion item) byxdress

      1. a onesie

         Synonym: mysoverall

   3. a tracksuit (including two-piece tracksuits)

      Synonym: träningsoverall

• arbetsoverall
• mysoverall
• pilotoverall
• skyddsoverall (“protective coveralls”)
• studentoverall
• träningsoverall

• arbetskläder
• blåställ
• snickarbyxor
• överdragskläder
• överdragsplagg

• “overall”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “overall”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “overall”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)