as in lapping
a partial covering of one thing by an adjoining member
the orthodontist will try to fix that overlap of two of your upper incisors
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to overlie
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
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Recent Examples of overlap
Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2026
Delaying caffeine 90 minutes after waking lets your natural cortisol complete its peak without competition, reducing the crash that follows when caffeine and cortisol overlap.
—Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Apr. 2026
April is peak tree pollen season — oak, pine, mulberry and willow are the main culprits right now — with grass pollen starting to overlap in May per Zyrtec’s pollen guide, making the next several weeks one of the harder stretches for allergy-prone families.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for overlap
Noun
The beauty opportunity is especially large, because of the overlap with wellness, recovery, and optimization.
—Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2026
Delaying caffeine 90 minutes after waking lets your natural cortisol complete its peak without competition, reducing the crash that follows when caffeine and cortisol overlap.
—Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
This technique involves scanning a nanoscale electron probe across a material to capture overlapping diffraction patterns.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Apr. 2026
April is peak tree pollen season — oak, pine, mulberry and willow are the main culprits right now — with grass pollen starting to overlap in May per Zyrtec’s pollen guide, making the next several weeks one of the harder stretches for allergy-prone families.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for overlap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overlap
Noun
-
From my perch on a sun lounger, Friendship Bay stretches out below me – the curve of the powdery sand beach, the impossible blue of the sea and the calming lapping of the waves against the shore.—
Rebekah Evans,
TheWeek,
5 Feb. 2026
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As Amanyara’s resident wellness expert guided me through a sound healing session and harmonized the vibrations of a Tibetan singing bowl, the lapping of the ocean waves seemed to still.—
Carley Rojas Avila,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Soundings reached down more than 35 meters, roughly 1.75 times deeper than measurements taken on the crater floor or the overlying Delta units.—
Jacek Krywko,
ArsTechnica,
20 Mar. 2026
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The results are somewhat ambiguous as to how much ice may lurk unseen beneath layers of overlying ice-sparse material.—
K. R. Callaway,
Scientific American,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The lapping waves that arrive shortly thereafter are an alarming detour, but their presence quickly feels normal.—
Joshua Minsoo Kim,
Pitchfork,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Theo Ratliff walked laps around the building with his family.—
Tony Jones,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The gold ring is composed of a mixed-cut octagonal sapphire which is overlaid with four rectangular-cut and one square-cut rubies.—
Alex Gurley,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
-
For that, organizers turn to the same technology used when Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya broke the two-hour-marathon barrier in 2019, overlaying data onto potential routes to find the optimal one.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overlap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overlap. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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