overbrow meaning (poetic): definition, etymology and quotations

overbrow

verb

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈbɹaʊ/

Etymology From over- + brow.

Poetic To hang over like a brow; to impend over.

The prints of the Matlock cliffs on the Derwent, which every body has seen, will give the stranger some idea of the rocks which overbrow the partially wooded ravines, and glens down which the streams tributary to the Dove descend.1836, A. K. Killmister, The Oakleigh Shooting Code, page vii:
With solemn feet I tread the hill, That overbrows the lonely vale1852, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Woods in Winter”, in The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

1 more example

18000, William Wordsworth, Michael Did with a huge projection overbrow Large space beneath.

noun

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)bɹaʊ/

Etymology From over- + brow.

The area immediately above the eyebrow and below the forehead.

If the man thall have a Mole on the overbrow, then let fuch a perfon refrayne from marriage altogether , or all his life time; for that such a person (if he marry) shall have five wives in his lifetime.1649, Godfridus, The Knowledge of Things Unknown, page 155:
I could not say that he didn't give the matter consideration, but while I noticed once in a while, by the lifting of an eyebrow or a slight corrugation of the overbrow, that the gubernatorial mind seemed to have some slight premonitory symptom of the induction of a thought, it passed off without apparent fruition.1914, Tennessee Bar Association, Proceedings of the Annual Session of the Bar Association of Tennessee, page 96:

1 more example

As I translated, however, Valeo's face contorted, his overbrow furrowing as he picked at his food.2016, Anne Boles Levy, The Well of Prayers:

A projecting shelf of rock on the face of a cliff.

For reasons of safety it was decided to drill off the overbrow and to blast it at one time to break 30,000 tons.1948, The Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Bulletin, page 10: