overarching meaning: definition, quotations

overarching

adj

UK /ˌəʊvəɹˈɑːtʃɪŋ/ · US /ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹt͡ʃɪŋ/

Arching over; that forms an arch overhead.

Figuratively Dominating or covering something for the most part.

the overarching idea of a work
Firstly, there needs to be an overarching plan - in the sense that each part of the rail system must be considered together, precisely because it is an integrated network.2020 May 20, David Thrower, Ian Wray, “Revisiting the plan for developing the North's rail network”, in RAIL, page 39:

noun

A structure that arches over something.

But in this case the overarchings do not grow uniformly, but in such a manner that their rims form at least a fissure […]1875, Julius Sachs, Alfred William Bennett, William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, Text-book of Botany: Morphological and Physiological, page 27: