overhead

Imagine standing in a crowded train station. The speakers fixed above your head, or the sound coming down from them, can be described as "overhead." That is the basic, physical meaning: something is above you. But the word is also common in business. There, it means the regular costs of keeping a business going, such as rent, electricity, insurance, and office staff pay. These costs are not tied to making one specific product. A small bakery may have high overhead if the rent is expensive, while a person working from home may have very little. So the word often points either to something above you or to the ongoing costs around the main work.

The word "overhead" has more than one common meaning, and they all connect to the idea of something being above or outside the main thing. In the most literal sense, it describes something located above your head. You might see power lines overhead, hear music coming from overhead speakers, or watch a plane pass overhead. In these cases, the word describes position or movement above you.

In business and finance, "overhead" means the regular costs of running a business that are not directly linked to making a particular product or doing a particular job. These can include office rent, electricity, water, insurance, software, and the pay of administrative staff. A company has to cover these costs even when sales are slow. That is why people talk about "overhead costs" when they want to understand how expensive it is to keep a business operating.

The word can also be used more broadly for extra time, effort, or resources needed to support a task or system. In computing, for example, "overhead" often means the extra processing time or memory needed to manage something. In a project, it can mean the admin work and support work around the main task.

So, depending on the context, "overhead" may refer to something physically above you, the ongoing costs of running a business, or the extra support work and resources around a main activity.