overhand
adjective, noun, adverb, verb
overhand is spelled O-V-E-R-H-A-N-D: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, overhand means “Executed with the hand brought forward and down from above the shoulders” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overhand?
| Letters | 8: O-V-E-R-H-A-N-D |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is overhand?
Overhand appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with overhand
Also written: over-hand (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with overhand?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as overhand.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: handover.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of overhand
- over-hand
- overhanded participle, past
- over-handed
- overhands plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- overhanding participle, present
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overhand mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Executed with the hand brought forward and down from above the shoulders.
an overhand shuffle of a deck of cards
- 2
Sewn with close, vertical stitches that draw the edges of a seam together.
- 3
With the working part on top of the standing part.
- 4
Laid such that the surface of the wall to be jointed is on the opposite side of the wall from the mason, requiring the mason to lean over the wall to complete the work.
- 5
Done from below upward.
noun
- 1
The upper hand; advantage; superiority; mastery.
adverb
- 1
In an overhand manner
verb
- 1
Sew using an overhand stitch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does overhand come from?
From over- + hand.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).