overhear
US/oʊ.vɚˈhɪɚ/
overhear verb: to hear something that was not meant for one's ears.
Verb
overhear (third-person singular simple present overhears, present participle overhearing, simple past and past participle overheard)
- To hear something that was not meant for one's ears.
- I was hanging clothes in the garden and I overheard the neighbours talking about Sheila's pregnancy.
- "It is incomprehensible," replied Sir Fergus, dropping his voice so that the old man could not overhear.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
overhear meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Vietnamese
overhear in Tamil
- தற்செயலாகக் கேள், மேனிலைத் தொட்டி
overhear in Malayalam
- മറഞ്ഞുനിന്നു കേൾക്കുക, ഒളിച്ചുനിന്നു കേൾക്കുക, വീണ്ടും കേൾക്കുക
overhear in Kannada
- ಹೊಂಚಿ ಕೇಳು, ಕದ್ದು ಕೇಳು, ಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಕೇಳು, ಅಕಸ್ಮಾತ್ತಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳು
overhear in Vietnamese
- to hear something that wasn't meant for one's ears
- nghe lén
Examples of overhear in a sentence
- She wanted to investigate further, based on some things that she had overheard.
- Overhearing the lewd joke, the dowager gave a scandalized gasp.
- He didn't hold the gun, but he got in on the robbery after he overheard some of us talking.
Forms of overhear
| third-person singular present | overhears |
|---|---|
| present participle | overhearing |
| past participle | overheard |
| past | overheard |
Origin of overhear
From Middle English overheren, from Old English oferhīeran (“to overhear, hear, disobey, disregard, neglect”), equivalent to over- + hear. Cognate with Dutch overhoren (“to hear, hear about”), German überhören (“to not hear, ignore”), Danish overhøre (“to overhear”), Icelandic yfirheyra (“to hear”), Gothic *𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*ufarhausjan, “to disregard, disobey”) (in 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ufarhauseins)).
Words formed from overhear
Words that rhyme with overhear
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- spear
- career
- fear
- here
- steer
- appear
- cavalier
- cheer
- leer
- pioneer
- queer
- volunteer
- adhere
- beer
- chandelier
- deer
- financier
- pier
- premier
- privateer
- sheer
- veer
- vizier
- austere
- bombardier
- brigadier
- cashmere
- commandeer
- disappear
- endear
- grenadier
- interfere
- mere
- mountaineer
- peer
- sear
- tear
- tier
- unclear
- arrear
- bier
- blear
- cameleer
- cashier
- chiffonier
- cohere
- fakir
- farseer
Questions about overhear
- What does overhear mean?
- Overhear means to hear something that was not meant for one's ears.
- What is overhear in Tamil?
- Overhear in Tamil is தற்செயலாகக் கேள், மேனிலைத் தொட்டி. See Overhear meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is overhear?
- Overhear is a verb.
- How do you pronounce overhear?
- Overhear is pronounced /oʊ.vɚˈhɪɚ/ (US).
- What is the past tense of overhear?
- The past tense of overhear is overheard.
Words near overhear in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overhear (page history and authors); overhear (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overhear (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overhear (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-overhear.wav.
Cite this entry: “overhear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overhear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.