Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧊 To cover on top ⚰️ To smother
to overlie

to overlie

9.9
Lie on top of someone and cause their death, often by accident
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈlaɪ/
translation icon : asfixiar
  • Historical records mention tragic cases where a parent accidentally overlaid an infant.

Examples

  • She didn't mean to overlie her baby while resting.

  • The farmer warned about placing the lambs where the ewe might overlie them.

  • On rare occasions, a large sow may overlie her piglets during the night.

  • The dog accidentally overlies the kitten while sleeping.

  • The parent didn't realize that by falling asleep on the couch, he would overlie his infant and accidentally harm the child.

  • While napping, the dog unknowingly overlie its sleeping puppy, which prompted concern for its safety.

  • During the night, the cat often overlie on its kittens, creating a warm but risky sleeping environment.

Surface Forms

overlie infinitive
overlying present participle
overlies third person singular
overlaid past
overlaid past participle

Morphology

overlie = lie (transparent) = over + lie

The sense is a literal extension of 'over' + 'lie' (lying on top of someone), so the morphological relation is directly informative.

Etymology

Overlie combines over ('on top') and lie ('to lie down'), so it can mean 'to lie on top of' a person or animal, which explains old reports of tragic cases where someone accidentally 'overlaid' a baby by lying on them.