overlap
verb (overlaps, overlapping, overlapped) /əʊvəˈlap 
/ [with object]
/ [with object]1Extend over so as to cover partly: the canopy overlaps the house roof at one end [no object]: the curtains overlap at the centre when closed...
- In Esperanto, the red, attenuated arms of a Greek cross at the center of the composition are partly overlapped by framing bars of dark and light green, which are themselves surrounded by a field of yellow.
- The intervening age overlaps the boundary and is inferred to lie on a mixing line between the older and younger ages.
- Data from four plots were omitted from the analyses after a territorial boundary narrowly overlapped the southeastern corner of the unoccupied zone in 1994.
1.1 [no object] Cover part of the same area of interest, responsibility, etc. the union’s commitments overlapped with those of NATO...
- In the realm where the interest of specialists overlapped with that of a broader public, claims might be less guarded.
- They understand, increasingly, that Cold War approaches do not serve their national interests and that Russian and American strategic interests overlap in many areas.
- Indeed, even on some of the issues where the Left may have identified its cause, improvements were in evidence, especially where these issues overlapped with liberal ideas.
1.2 [no object] Partly coincide in time: two new series overlapped...
- The game's 7.30 am kick off, with the final whistle at 9.15 am, meant the game overlapped with the start of the school day.
- Peter, am I remembering correctly that your time as a participant at the Jan van Eyck Akademie overlapped with Jan van Toorn's final year there?
- The house of four girls also followed this pattern and two of their three months overlapped with two of the birthday months of my house.
noun /ˈəʊvəlap /
/1A part or amount which overlaps: an overlap of about half an inch...
- By arranging themselves according to an angle determined by phi, the leaves can fill the spaces in the most efficient way possible, with the least amount of overlap.
- This large amount of overlap drives the inference of isolation-by-distance for the overall cladogram.
- Finally, the amount of overlap occurring along any column in the design was to be translated into a particular color of tile.
1.1A common area of interest, responsibility, etc. there are many overlaps between the approaches [mass noun]: there is some overlap in requirements...
- I have long been interested in the apparent overlap in RSS newsfeeds and the possible application of instant messaging to alert blog readers to new entries.
- This meant that to some extent there remained an overlap of interest between the advanced capitalist economies.
- The challenge lies in persuading it that there is an overlap between its national interest and that of the West.
1.2A period of time in which two events or activities happen together: an overlap of shifts...
- The government is in need of a higher level of coordination for the reconstruction in Aceh in order to prevent an overlap of activities and ensure that funding is used appropriately.
- Potential overlap in annual activity time between rattlesnakes and nocturnal prey, such as wood rats, is minimized or eliminated altogether by canopy vegetation.
- This period represented an overlap between war and stability operations.