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[ oh-ver-lahyn ]

noun

, Printing, Journalism.

1. a cutline, usually of one line, appearing over a picture, cartoon, etc.
2. kicker ( def 10 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of overline¹

First recorded in 1850–55; over- + line ¹

Example Sentences

In bedrooms across the country, women painstakingly contour, bake and overline their lips in an approximation of the Kardashian makeup aesthetic.

From The Guardian

So what we did in first grade, every single time we did something like this, we just write it in pencil and then overline it.

From New York Times

That’s the overline on David J. LaPorte’s new book — just above the picture of a wary eye peering through what looks like a rip in the cover, and the title “Paranoid: Exploring Suspicion From the Dubious to the Delusional.”

From Washington Post

To all but practiced cryptographers, it looks baffling: a rectangular display of 160 letters and numbers, grouped in twos in blue against a black background, under the overline, “Can you crack it?”

From New York Times

It’s got a big picture of a muscular fellow in a spiky crown and an overline that says, “The literary classic that inspired the epic video game.”

From New York Times