over

/oʊvɚ/17 verbsVowel-initial — links backwards

Something is examined from above, done again, or moved across.

OVER's most useful sense for learners is careful review: go over, look over, think over, talk over all mean examining something thoroughly, as if from above.

It also means repetition (do over), transfer of control (take over, hand over) and recovery (get over).

What it does to the sound

OVER is two syllables with stress on the first: O-ver, ending in the r-coloured /ɚ/. After a /t/ or /d/ verb it flaps hard: get over is “ge-dover”, three syllables, no T in sight.

What OVER means

Reviewing — examine thoroughly

You pass across the whole of something, checking it.

go over look overread overthink over talk over

Transfer — hand control to someone else

Responsibility crosses from one party to another.

take over hand over turn oversign over

Recovery — get past something difficult

You cross to the far side of an illness or an upset.

get overwin over

Repetition — do it again from the start

Chiefly American: *do it over* means redo it.

do overstart overrun over

Every verb that takes OVER

The complete list — 17 of them. The section above groups the common ones by what OVER is doing.

The particle OVER — what it does to a verb