overseaming 
over tli- edges of the- pieees, inn! drawn down 
in it manner which liimls tin- eil^es. In over- 
seaming tiy haml tin needle IB passed through the ma- 
terial always frnlll thr samr slilr, thr llnrail being laid 
over the i il-i -, :it . -:i.-li stitch. In machine overscaming 
the thread Is "limped" over Hie edges nt each stitrli. 
liuttmholi--stitt-hhiK, whrir tin- liiltl-uihole is lirst cut 
aiid then stitchi-il, is u kind \ overseaming, though nut 
usually so culled. Ovttveaming is employed in the manu- 
facture of kid gloves, tin: seainiiiK together of breadths of 
carpet, etc. See xtitch and oi}t'rlm>/<l. 
overseas (o'ver-se/.'i. ml,-. Sume as oversea. 
Mi- lost the sense that handles daily life, . . . 
And siek of honif '-ut on-neat for change. 
Ti mil/mm, Walking to the Mail 
OVersee (o-vi-r-no'), r. [< ME. on rx, ( n, or</>, . 
< AS. ofcrsedn (= 1). nrir.:ii H = MLQ. oversea 
= OHG. iilinrKi'liiiii, Ml Hi. (j. ubersehen = 8w. 
iifi-t-rst = Dau. averse), look over, look down 
upon, despise, < ofer, over, + seon, see : see 
seel.] I. Iran*. 1. To look over; superintend ; 
overlook ; take tare of ; look out for. 
Oucr-twye me at my soperc and some tyine at nones. 
Iters Plowman (B), v. 878. 
That he should rule, overs*?, and correct the manners and 
condicions of the people. 
Hall, 154S, lien. V., t. 1. (HaUiweU.) 
Thou, Collatine, shalt oversee this will. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1205. 
A ... wife . . . without noise will overeee 
ills ehildren and his family. 
Ih nil.' H. tr. i if Horace's Epodes, ii. 65. 
2f. To revise. 
I therefore the said towiie clerk . . . exhorte and pray 
all suche worshipfulle pcrsonesas hereafter shall be callid 
and electid to the seide ofnue3, at theire ceasons of ley- 
soure, to rede or do to be redde and overseen this present 
boke. I ',<;,/,-/: GMt (E. E. T. S.\ p. 418. 
3f. To pass unheeded ; omit ; neglect ; overlook. 
Nay, Madam, I advise nothing ; I only lay before you, 
aa a Friend, the Inconveniences which perhaps you have 
overseen. Conoreve, Way of the World, v. 5. 
To be overseen' . (a) To be deceived, deluded, or mis 
taken. 
They 're mightily o'metn in it, mi-thinks. 
Mitldleton, Chaste Maid, tv. 1. 
How are poor women overmen .' We must 
Cast away ourselves upon a whining lover, 
In charity. Shirley, Hyde Park, i. !. 
(b) To be tipsy ; be intoxicated. 
Syte not to longe vppe at euene, 
For drede with ale thou be ouer-sene. 
Booke of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), i. 49. 
All this is come through the occasion of making ... a 
supper in my chamber : the Lord pardon me, I trust no 
more to be so far overseen. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1858), II. 31. 
II, intraiis. To omit or neglect to see ; over- 
look. 
The most expert gamesters may sometimes oversee. 
Fuller. 
overseer (6-ver-ser'), . [< oversee + -*/!.] 1. 
One who overlooks ; a superintendent ; a super- 
visor; one who has the care or superintendence 
of any matter. 
The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi 
the sou of Bani. Xeh. xi. 22. 
Your family and children be without good overseers. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 217. 
For all this, he [a prince] is nothing but a servant, over- 
seer, or graft, and not the head, which is a title belonging 
only to Christ. Knox, Hist. Reformation, Pref. 
2. Specifically, one who oversees or superin- 
tends workmen, especially slaves ; one who has 
charge, under the owner or manager, of the 
work on a plantation, or, in Australia, on a 
station. 
From tin- earliest dawn of the day they [field-hands] had 
been in the fields, pressed to work under the driving lash 
of the overseers. Mrs. Stom, Uncle Tom's Cabin, xxxli. 
3f. A reviser; a critic. 
There are in the world certain voluntary overseen of all 
books, whose censure in this respect would fall as sharp 
on us as it hath done on many others. 
Booker, Eccles. Polity, v :il. 
4f. An executor or an adviser to an executor, 
formerly sometimes named in wills. 
Overseer to most of their wills. 
Bp. Parker, Platonick Philos., p. 31. 
Overseers Of highways, in certain States, local officers 
charged with supervising the construction and repair of 
public roads. |l r . S.I - Overseers of the poor, officers ap- 
pointed annually hy the justices In All the parishes of Eng- 
land and Wales, whose primary duty ft is to rate the inhabi- 
tants for the poor-rate, and collect the same. Tin- relief of 
the poor is now administered by the boards of guardians, 
who may appoint assistant overseers. The office is com- 
pulsory, and entirely gratuitous, but several classes of 
persons are exempt from serving. Numerous miscellane- 
ous duties, over and above their original duty of relieving 
the poor, are now imposed by statute on overseers : such 
as making out the lists of voters, lists of persons in ar- 
rears of rates, etc. In certain of the United States, also, 
there are officers of local government called overseers of 
the poor : their duties, however, are generally confined to 
tlit- administering of relief to the poor. 
OVerseership (6-ver-ser'ship). n. [< orersin + 
-*////(.] The office or station of an overseer, 
oversell (6-vtr-nel'), r. t. and t. 1. To sell nt 
too high a price. 
Life with ease I can disclaim. 
And think It oversold to purchase fame. 
Dryden, .Kneid, Ix. 
2. To sell inore than can be delivered or more 
than is in existence ; to ''sell short": as, to'/r 
--'// a stock. 
A*, however, the ordinary reason for the non-delivery of 
a stock Is that one has not got It to deliver, backwarda- 
tion usually marks that the stock lias been oversold by 
speculators. X. and Q., 6th ser., XI. 4.W. 
overset (o-ver-sef), v. [< ME. ovemetteti, set 
ovrr (= D. orerzetten = G. ubersetzen = 8w. of- 
cersatta = Dan. orerseette, translate); < over + 
8efl.] I. tranx. 1. To set over. 2. To turn 
over; overturn; capsize. 
The winds thy sight : 
Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them, 
Without a sudden calm, will overset 
Thy tempest- tossed body. Shale., R. and J., 111. 5. 187. 
A small bark of Salem, of about twelve tons, . . . was 
overset in a gust. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 71. 
3. To overthrow ; subvert; overturn. 
We might . . . overset the whole power of France. 
Adilixm, Present State of the Vi'ar. 
sin- made no scruple of oversetting all human institu- 
tions, and scattering them as with a breeze from her fan. 
Hawthorne, Bllthedale Eomance, vl. 
4. To overcome. Hallitcell. [Prov. Eng.] 
The people were so mtersette with their enemies that 
manye of them were as yolden, and tooke partie againe 
their owne iieighboures. /-''/y<i/i, Chron. (ed. IMS), I. (ii 
5f. To overcharge ; assess at too high a rate. 
Thr usurers and publicans . . . bought in great the 
emperor's tribute, and, to make their most advantage, did 
overset the people. Tyndale, Works, II. 71. (Donor.) 
H. intrans. To be overturned ; be upset. 
The pilot kept in close by the land, to see if no bight, 
or inlet, offered to bring up in ; but we were going with 
such violence that I was satisfied we should overset if we 
attempted this. Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 218. 
While kingdoms overset, 
Or lapse from hand to hand. 
Tennyson, Talking Oak. 
overset (6'ver-set), H. [< overset, .] 1. An 
upsetting; overturn; ruin. 2f. An excess; 
superfluity. 
This overset of wealth and pomp. Burnet. 
oversew (6-ver-so'), i'. t. To sew in a manner 
similar to overcasting, but more closely, so as 
completely to cover the edge of the material, 
and with greater care. Diet, of Needlework. 
overshade (6-v6r-shad'). v. t. To cover with 
shade ; cover with anything that causes dark- 
ness ; render dark or gloomy. 
Black night o'enhade thy day, and death thy life 1 
Shalt., Rich. Ill, i. 2. 131. 
overshadow (6-ver-shad'o), f. t. [< ME. *over- 
xlniilin n, < AS. ofersceadurian (= MHG. iiber- 
schatewen, G. uberschatten = Goth, ufarska- 
dtcjan), overshadow, (. ofer, over, + sceadirian, 
shadow: see slutdow, v.] 1. To throw a shadow 
over; overshade; shade. 
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 
them. Mat. xvtL :.. 
Except by the rivers and savage habitations, where they 
are not overshadowed from the sunne, they are covered 
with fruit Capt. John Smith, Worlu, 1. 122. 
2. To shelter; protect; cover with protecting 
influence. 
The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. 
Luke i . 35. 
overshadower (6-ver-shad'o-6r), . One who 
throws a shade over anything. Bacon, To the 
King, Jan. 2, 1618. 
over shadowy t ( 6-ver-shad'o-i ) , a . [< oi-ershadow 
+ -y 1 .] Overshadowing. ' [Bare.] 
The Fig Tree . . . hath her Figs aboue the leaf, because 
it is so large and overshadowie. 
IIMund, tr. of Pliny's Nat Hist, xvi. 26. (Danes.) 
overshake (6-ver-shak'), r. t. If. To shake 
away; disperse. 
Now welcom somer, with thy soune softe, 
That hast this wlntres weders oner-shake. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, L 688. 
2. To shake excessively. 
overshave (o'ver-shav), n. In coopering, same 
as backing jointer (which see, uiiderjointer 1 ). 
overshine (6-ver-shin'), r. t. [< ME. *oversht- 
iii it, < AS. uferxcina (= D. oversclienen = OHG. 
uberskiiu'ii, MHG. iiberschiiiex, G. iiberscheinen), 
shine upon, < ofer, over, + scinan, shine: see 
shine.] 1. To shine upon; illumine. 
That we, the sons of brave Plantagenet, 
Each one already blazing by our meeds. 
Should notwithstanding join our lights together 
And over-shine the earth as this the world. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 1. 88. 
overside 
2. To outshine; .surpass in 
ie 
Therefore, lovely Tamora, queen of (9oths, 
That like the stately Phiebe 'mongst her nymphs 
Dost overthine the gallant'st damn of Koine. 
Shak., lit. And., L 1.817. 
overshirt (6'ver-shert), n. All outer shirt. 
overshoe (o'ver-shii), n. [= I), orerschoen = G. 
iii,i I'xi-liiil, = Sw. ilfri-rxko = Dan. otersko ; aa 
over 4- shoe.} A shoe worn over another: spe- 
cifically, an outer water-proof shoe ; also, an 
outside shoe lined with fur or other warm ma- 
terial, worn in winter for the sake of warmth. 
overshoot (d-ver-nbof), r. [< ME. ixiersheteii, 
< AS. "ofersceotan, shoot over, < iifrr, over, + 
-i-ii'itiitt, shoot: see shoot.] I. trims. 1. Toshoot 
over, as water on a wheel. 2. To shoot or go 
beyond; fly beyond; hence, toe \.-i-i -.1; overstep. 
The hounde* bad ovtnhtt hym alle. 
Chaucer, Death of Blanche, 1. 883. 
In the fogge - [he) missed the shlppe, and ouenhut 
her, and afterwards, returning back)-, he found the ship. 
Uakivyfs Voyages, L 429. 
But this caused us to overshoot our time, the moon spend- 
ing so fast 11. Knox (Arber's Eng. Ciarner, I. 408). 
And when thou hast on foot the purblind hare, 
Mark the poor wretch, to overshoot his trouble 
How he outruns the wind. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. Ueii. 
The lark Is gav, 
That drives his feathers, saturate with dew, 
Beneath the rosy cloud, while yet the beams 
Of dayspring overshoot his humble nest 
Cooper, Task, I. 416. 
3. To shoot over or beyond, as a mark. 
Every inordinate appetite defeat* its own satisfaction by 
overshooting the mark It aims at Tiilutnoii. 
There was, however, a kind of wholesale sanctity about 
the place which overshot the mark. 
H. James, Jr., Little Tour, p. 188. 
To overshoot one's self, to venture too far ; go too far 
in any course of action ; overreach one's self. 
In finding fault with the limes, I doubt me, you shall 
much over-shoote your self. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
Believe me, you shall not overshoot yourself, to send him 
that word by me. B. Jonson, Eplcoene, iv. i 
My Lord of Rochester . . . ovemhot himseWe, by the 
same carriage and stlflnesse, which their friends thought 
they might have well spar'd, . . . and that it had ben suf- 
ficient to have declar'd their dissent with lesse passion. 
Ecrlya, Diary, Feb. 21, 1689. 
n. intrans. To shoot over or too far ; hence, 
to overstep due bounds in any respect. 
Your ladyship will pardon me my fault ; 
If I have over-shot. 111 shoot no more. 
B. Jonson, New Inn, ii. 1. 
overshootingt (6-ver-sho'ting), p. a. Exces- 
sive. 
I am to require yon not to have an overshooting expecta- 
tion of me. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, v. 
overshot (6-v6r-shot'), 1>- 1. Exceeded in 
shooting or in any effort; surpassed. 
But are you not ashamed f nay, are you not, 
All three of you, to be thus much o'ershot? 
Shak., L. L. L., iv. 8. 160. 
2. Having exceeded proper limits in drinking; 
intoxicated; tipsy. [Colloq.] 
Death ! Colonel, I knew you were overshot. Chapman. 
Overshot leaves, in hot., in the Mtuci, those leaves In 
which the anterior margin turned toward the vegetative 
point of the stem stands higher than the posterior one, 
and thus the anterior margin of every leaf overlaps the 
posterior margin of the leaf which stands before it, while 
its own posterior 
margin is overlap- 
ped by the anterior 
margin of the leaf 
which stands be- 
hind It Encyc. 
Brit., XVII. 67. 
Overshot water- 
wheel, a wheel that 
receives the water 
shot over the top on 
the descent The 
circumference of 
the wheel is furnish- 
ed with buckets, so 
fashioned and dis- 
posed as to receive 
the water at the top 
of the wheel and Oveishot wier-hcel. 
retain it until they 
reach, as nearly as possible, the lowest point The water 
acts principally hy Its gravity, though some effect Is also 
due to the velocity with which It strikes the heel. 
overshot (6'ver-shot\ H. A mill with an over- 
shot wheel. 
More water for another mill, 
An old weak over-thot I must provide for. 
Beau, and Fl., Mad Lover, Iv. 1. 
overside (6'ver-sid'), arfr. Over the side, as of 
a ship. [Rare.] 
The bulk of the cargo, instead of being put upon the 
quays, is discharged ovenide Into lighters and conveyed 
to wharves. The Enyinerr, LXVHI. 28*. 
