overhear, v.
(əʊvəˈhɪə(r))
[OE. oferh{iacu}ęran: see over- ? 5, 16, 15, 20.
In OE. oferh{iacu}ęran appears as (1) = hear (simply), (2) = not listen, disregard, disobey; the latter sense is found also with MHG. überhœren and MDu. overhôren; Kilian has ‘ouer-hooren audire’ (hear), mod.Du. overhooren hear, hear one his lessons, mod.G. überhören miss hearing, fail to hear or catch; also, hear (a lesson) through. Mod.Eng. over hear was app. a new combination in 16th c., meaning perhaps ‘hear over or beyond the intended reach of the voice; or, in excess of the usual degree’: see quot. 1579–80 in sense 3.]
† 1. trans. Not to hearken to; to disregard, disobey. (OE.)
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iii. x. §3 Swa he ær..þara goda biscepum oferhirde. Ibid. iv. xii. §2 Hie..þurh his lare oferhierdon þæm godum. |
† 2. To hear; to hear through. Obs.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. xii. §4 And eac þæt se æþeling æᵹðer hæfde, ᵹe his pleᵹan ᵹe his ᵹewill, þonne he þara manna tintrego oferhierde. a 1300 Cursor M. 11332 (Cott.) For gladnes he gaf a cri Þat all ouerherd þat stode him bi [Gött. ouer herde; Tr., L., herde]. c 1325 Childhood of Jesus 443 His Maister schal beo Zacharie, Þat him schal techen of clergie; Al ore lawe he hauez ouer herd, Of him he may beo wel i lered. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11004 Pantasilia the pride of Pirrus ouer herd. |
3. To hear (speech or utterance) that is not intended to reach one's ears; to hear (a speaker) without his intention or knowledge. Also absol.
| 1549 Latimer 4th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 117 He [Ld. Seymour before his execution] turnes me to the leue⁓tenauntes seruaunte, and sayeth ‘Byd my seruaunte spede the thynge that he wottes of’. Wel, the worde was ouer heard. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 658 Cato over-heard them, for indeed his hearing was very quick. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 130, I should blush..To be ore-heard. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 312, I fell into lamentations, till my Brother-in-law over-heard me. 1706 Swift Baucis & Philemon in Poems (1958) I. 92 The Strangers overheard, and said [etc.]. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 422 ¶2 He whispered a Friend the other Day, so as to be overheard by a young Officer. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xv. 310 The English government had agents in Rome whose business was to overhear conversations. 1913 Cassell's Mag. June 2/1 Glancing over his shoulder to make certain that the nurse hadn't overheard. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 114 Mr Bloom, chapfallen, drew behind a few paces so as not to overhear. 1929 E. O'Neill Dynamo iii. i. 132 He lowers his voice carefully as if he didn't want the dynamo to overhear. 1976 M. Millar Ask for me Tomorrow (1977) ii. 19, I couldn't talk to you freely this morning because I didn't want..that witch in his office to over⁓hear. |
4. nonce-use. To hear told over, or over again.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 95, I stole into a neighbour thicket by, And ouer-heard, what you shall ouer-heare. |
Hence overˈheard ppl. a., overˈhearing vbl. n.; also overˈhearer, one who overhears.
| 1652 Loveday tr. Calprenede's Cassandra ii. 88 To avoid overhearers in a matter of that secrecy. 1832 Miss Mitford Village Ser. v. (1863) 503 This is the third time..that I have appeared in the very equivocal character of an over-hearer. 1883 Daily News 25 Sept. 2/2 The overhearing [in telephones]..is due to the fact that the electric current passing over one wire induces a similar current in its neighbour in a reverse direction. |