O V E 
the Nile and the Niger make yearly inundations in our 
days, as they have formerly done ? and are not the coun¬ 
tries fo overflown (fill iituate between the tropics ? Bentley. 
_Sixteen hundred and odd years after the earth was 
made, it was overflowed and destroyed'in a deluge ot water 
that overfpread the face of the whole earth, from pole to 
pole, and from eaft to weft. Burnet. 
Thus oft by mariners are (lrown 
Earl Godwin’s caftles overflown. Swift. 
The participle overflown is, among the examples, ufed, we 
fee, by fuch excellent writers as Swift and Bentley; yet 
flown is not the participle of flow , but of fly. Todd. 
O'VERFLOW, f. Inundation; more than fulnefs; 
fuch a quantity as runs over; exuberance.—Where there 
are great overflows in fens, the drowning of them in winter 
maketh the iummer following more fruitful; for that it 
keepeth the ground warm. Bacon's Sat. Hifl. —It re¬ 
quires pains to find the coherence of abftrufe writings : 
fo that it is not to be wondered, that St. Paul’s Epiftles 
have, with many, palled for disjointed pious difeourfes, 
full of warmth and zeal and overflows of light, rather than 
for calm, ftrong, coherent, reafonings, all through. Locke. 
—After every overflow of the Nile, there was not always 
a menfuration. Arbutknot on Coins. —The exprefiion may 
be aferibed to an overflow of gratitude in the general difi- 
pofition of Ulyfles. Broome. 
Did he break out into tears ?— 
In great meafure.— 
—A kind overflow of kindnefs. Sliakefpeare. 
QVERFLO'WING, f. Exuberance; copioufnefs.— 
When men are young, they might vent the overflowings 
of their fancy that way. Denham's Dedic. —When the 
overflowings of ungodlinefs make us afraid, the minifters 
of religion cannot better difeharge their duty of oppofing 
it. Rogers. 
OVERFLO'WINGLY, adv. Exuberantly; in great 
abundance. A word not elegant, norinufe. —Nor was it his 
indigence that forced him to make the world ; but his 
goodnefs prefted him to impart the goods which he fo 
overflowingly abounds with. Boyle. 
OVERIS'SEL, or Over Yssel, the feventh of the 
northern provinces of the new kingdom of the Nether¬ 
lands, fo called from its fituation beyond the river Ifiel, 
is bounded on the north by Frieftand and the Iordfltip of 
Groningen, on the eaft by the territory of Munfter, on 
the fouth by Guelderland, and on the weft by the Iflel, 
or YlTel, and the Zuyder Sea. Its greateft length, from 
north to fouth, is more,than twenty leagues; its breadth, 
from eaft to weft, about eighteen. The illand of Schok- 
land, in the Zuyder Sea, belongs to this province : it 
contains Goo inhabitants, and the whole province 148,000. 
The number of towns and villages is 55. The chief 
towns are Zwal, Deventer, and Campen. 
The chief rivers of this province are the Vecht and the 
Aa.—The Vecht rifes near Coesfield in Weftphalia; is in- 
creafed by the waters of fome marlhes as it enters the 
province of Overiflel; walhes the village of Oramen, be¬ 
yond which it receives the Regge ; erodes the town of 
Zwol, beyond which it receives the Aa, (the fecond river 
of that name ;) it then takes the name of Swanrte-wuter, 
or Black-water, and empties itfelf into the Zuyder Sea.— 
The Aa (the third of that name), after wafliing the vil¬ 
lage of Staenwych, runs into the Zuyder Sea near Blackzyl. 
This province fends four deputies to the fecond cham¬ 
ber of the ftates-general. The provincial ftates confift of 
fixty-three members; of whom twenty-one are chofen by the 
equeftrian order, twenty-one by the towns, and twenty- 
one by the peafantry. The foil, in that part of the pro¬ 
vince which is near Frieftand, confifts chiefly of marfliy 
ground, and is productive of heath. There is little arable 
land, but much palturage, and a good deal of wood and 
turf. It produces little corn, but plenty of fruit and ve- 
. Vol. XVIII. No. 1225. 
O V E 81 
getables. The cattle are fine, and the butter excellent' 
Geographic du Royaume des Rays Bas, 1819. 
To OVERLOOK', v. a. To view from a higher place. 
■—I will do it with the fame refpefl to him, as if he were 
alive, and overloolring my paper while I write. Dryden. 
The pile o'cr-looh'd the town, and drew the fight. 
Surpris’d at once with reverence and delight. Dryden. 
To view fully; to perufe.—Would I had overlook'd the 
letter. ShakeJ'peare. —To fuperintend ; to over-fee.—In 
the greater out-pari(hes, many of the poor parifhioners, 
through negleft, do perifti, for want of fome heedful eye 
to overlook them. Graunt. —To review : 
The time and care that are requir’d, 
To overlook and file, and polifli well, 
Fright poets from that neceflary toil. Rofcommon-. 
To pafs by indulgently.—This part of good-nature, which 
confifts in the pardoning and overlooking of faults, is to 
be exercifed only in doing ourfelves juitice in the ordi¬ 
nary commerce of life. Addifon. —To negleCl ; to flight.— 
The happieft of mankind, overlooking thofe lolid bleftings 
which they already have, fet their hearts upon fomewhat 
they want. Atterbury. —They overlook truth in the judge¬ 
ments they pafs on adverfity and profperity. The tempta¬ 
tions that attend the former they can eafily fee, and dread 
at a diftance; but they have no apprehenlions of the dan¬ 
gerous confequences of the latter. Atterbury. 
OVERLOOK'ER, f. The original word fignifies an 
overlooker, or one who (lands higher than his fellows, and 
overlooks them. Watts. —The Holy Ghoft hath made you 
overfeers, overlookers, and watchmen, over the flock of 
Chrift. Bp. of Chichefter's Two Sermons, 1576.—God then is 
prefent, and his angel feeth thee: O wicked and dampned 
man, if thou contemne fuch overlookers! Woollen's Chr. 
Manual, 1576. 
O'VERLOOP, f. The fame with orlop. —In extremity 
we carry our ordnance better than we were wont, becaufe 
our nether overloops are raifed commonly from the water; 
to wit, between the lower part of the port and the fea. 
Raleigh. 
O'VF.RLY, adj. [ouephee, Sax. negligently.] Care- 
lefs; negligent; inattentive; flight.—This is alfo a Scot- 
tifli adje&ive ; and Dr. Jamiefon, noticing it, obferves, that 
overly muft have been formerly ufed in Englilh, as Somner 
mentions it in rendering the Saxon word. I will fatisfy 
him that it was a very common word, though Dr. John- 
lon has wholly overpafled it. Todd. —Not fearing the 
frowns of that overly hoft, fire thrufts herfelf into Simon’s 
houfe to find Jefus. Bp. Hall's Comtempl. — A kind of 
overly defire. Mountagu's App: to Ccefar. —Not to content 
themfelves with a flight and overly examination. Sander - 
Jon's Sermons, Pref. 
The courteous citizen bade me to his feaft, 
With hollow words, and overly requeft. Bp. Hall's Sal. 
O'VERMOST, adj. Higheft; over the reft in authority. 
Airj worth. 
OU'ERO, a river of Mexico, which runs into the bay 
of Honduras in lat. 15. 43. N. Ion. 87. 45. W. 
O'VERPLUS, f. Surplus; what remains more than fuf- 
ficient.—A great deal too much of it was made, and the 
overplus remained ltill in the mortar. L'Ejirange.— It 
would look like a fable to report, that this gentleman 
gives away all which is- the overplus of a great fortune. 
AddiJon. 
O'VERSALL, a fmall illand in the Caledonian Sea, neat’ 
the weft coaft of Scotland. Lat. 55. 44. N. Ion. 38. 6. W. 
O'VERSBRIDGE, a-village near Gloucefter. Flere \Vas 
formerly an abbey, moated round; it was deftroyed in 
the civil wars. 
To OVERSE'E, v. a. To fuperintend ; to overlook: 
She without noife will overfee 
His children and his family. Dryden. 
Y To 
