What's the difference between aloft and overhead?

Aloft


Definition:

  • (adv.) On high; in the air; high above the ground.
  • (adv.) In the top; at the mast head, or on the higher yards or rigging; overhead; hence (Fig. and Colloq.), in or to heaven.
  • (prep.) Above; on top of.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) There is a picture, drawn by Polish cartoonist Marek Raczkowski: a crowd of people demonstrating in the street, carrying aloft a big banner that simply reads "FUUUCK!''.
  • (2) Then, in English, a simple statement that has come to define a Japanese summer of public discontent, the likes of which it has not seen in a generation: “This is what democracy looks like!” Amid the trade union and civic group banners were colourful, bilingual placards held aloft by a new generation of activists who have assumed the mantle of mass protest as Japan braces for the biggest shift in its defence posture for 70 years.
  • (3) In his budget speech this year, Osborne said he wanted "the words 'Made in Britain', 'Created in Britain', 'Designed in Britain', 'Invented in Britain' to drive our nation forward – a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers."
  • (4) A combination of photos show Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo as it detached from the jet aeroplane that carried it aloft and then broke apart.
  • (5) A young man holds his hands aloft in victory as he is frog-marched out the door by bouncers.
  • (6) One Twitter account with 145,200 followers which is linked to the loose-knit group on Tuesday tweeted a picture of a man wearing an Anonymous mask, holding aloft a "Free Assange" poster outside what appeared to be the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
  • (7) Some of the rioters at the embassy on Tuesday held aloft pictures of the Quds Force commander, Qassem Suleimani, around whom a personality cult is developing.
  • (8) However, some birds have unexplained abilities to sense the wind while aloft.
  • (9) *applause* February 21, 2014 Reuters has more from the scene: After another open coffin was held aloft by the crowd, a protester wearing battle-fatigues leapt up to the microphone and triggered roars of approval as he declared: “By tomorrow we want him (Yanukovich) out!” Referring to the three opposition leaders, including boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, who were standing behind him, the man said: “My comrade was shot and our leaders shake the hand of a murderer.
  • (10) This video of Christie yelling at a skeptic on the Jersey boardwalk while holding aloft an ice cream cone spoke to Christie's remarkable inability (particularly for a politician) to control his temper.
  • (11) Inna smiles, grabs her hand, and holds the injured limb aloft.
  • (12) It was answered moments after the ticker-tape fell from the roof and the gleaming trophy was raised aloft, when Leonard’s name was announced and the crowd had yet another reason to go wild.
  • (13) Suddenly, there are screams from the dancefloor with camera phones held aloft creating a mirrorball effect.
  • (14) Just as Francis has shunned the grandeur of the papal apartment in favour of a simple room, so John Paul spoke in the first person, declined to be borne aloft on the papal throne (until he was pressured into it), refused a papal coronation in favour of a more low-key investiture, and sent the clearest of signals that he was a moderniser.
  • (15) It was the numbers and sheer youth of these peaceful demonstrators, umbrellas held aloft to ward off teargas and pepper spray, as they confronted – peacefully, tidily and very, very politely – the wrath of Beijing.
  • (16) Senator Hanson-Young, if in years gone by, you had held aloft a photograph of every boat that penetrated Australian borders there would not have been enough question times in the six years of the Labor government for all the individual boats that penetrated Australia’s borders,” replied the attorney general, George Brandis .
  • (17) Many hoisted small solid-green Libyan flags while others held aloft Scottish flags.
  • (18) It will require ditching the old-fashioned faith in “solidarity” with a miserable underclass that deserves to be borne aloft on the market-level salaried shoulders of society’s strongest.
  • (19) Henry says of "Staneges" that it is one of the wonders of the country, but that "no one can conceive … how such great stones have been so raised aloft, or why they were built there."
  • (20) Last week, as she has done every time I have been at her house before, she finished getting ready for the day by standing up in front of the big mirror in the living room, holding a huge can of Elnett hairspray aloft and, aiming it at her newly tonged curls, asking me about my love life.

Overhead


Definition:

  • (adv.) Aloft; above; in or attached to the ceiling or roof; in the story or upon the floor above; in the zenith.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) As May delivered her statement in the chamber, police helicopters hovered overhead and a police cordon remained in place around Westminster, but MPs from across the political spectrum were determined to show that they were continuing with business as usual.
  • (2) Overhead wire problems were causing delays on the east coast mainline into London King's Cross.
  • (3) Jesús Navas played a one-two with Touré down the right and from his awkward cross the England squad goalkeeper fumbled the ball inside his six-yard area from where Fernando scored with an overhead kick as dextrous as it was surprising.
  • (4) As fighter jets screamed overhead and tanks churned up the sand, it looked and sounded like the violent protests sweeping the Middle East had spread to the wealthy emirate of Abu Dhabi.
  • (5) A population based case control study of adult haematological malignancy and distance from, and magnetic fields associated with, overhead (OH) power lines has been carried out in the North West and Yorkshire regions of England.
  • (6) His body was found on the pavement of Portman Avenue, in East Sheen, an affluent west London suburb, shortly before 7.45am on 9 September last year, just after flight BA76 from Luanda, the Angolan capital, passed overhead.
  • (7) It cites a battery of reasons, including removing the market distortion and overheads involved in trying to set a price that covers an agency's costs and encouraging the uptake of information and the beneficial innovation that will result.
  • (8) I used to hear Canada geese sail overhead to a Stoke Newington reservoir behind where I lodged in my London days.
  • (9) The total lender's unit cost per request received, including direct labor, materials, fringe benefits, and overhead, was $1.526 for originals mailed postpaid by lender, and $1.534 for photocopies mailed.
  • (10) A Guardian analysis has found: A Luxembourg unit of Shire, the FTSE-100 drug firm behind attention deficit pill Adderall, received more than $1.9bn in interest income from other group companies in the last five years, paying corporation tax of less than $2m over four of the years despite minimal overheads.
  • (11) Nadal takes the advantage with two overhead smashes - one returned, the other not.
  • (12) Military helicopters hovered overhead as supporters and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood clashed in the streets below.
  • (13) Canalization and drainage of rivers, streams and marches since the beginning of malaria outbreak, widespread use of pesticides during the antimalaria spraying campaigns, only overhead irrigation, permanent maintenance of the lined canal system, induced many ecological constraints to possible snail habitats.
  • (14) Yaya Toure picked him out with a forensic, scooped pass that he played with the outside of his right boot and Bony watched it drop before trying to score with an overhead kick.
  • (15) This analytical system has the advantage of providing data on distribution of element concentration in a given specimen in overhead view without involving destruction of the tissue architecture.
  • (16) Charities which play this game – especially those which go to such pains to show how little they spend on “overheads” – are complicit in the perpetuation of an idea which is harming the sector and ultimately harms society.
  • (17) For repositioning we used a modified overhead-extension (Extensionsreposition).
  • (18) At 6pm it sounds like a war zone outside the office: you can hear nothing but sirens and the almost continuous drone of helicopters overhead.
  • (19) I won’t forget Dean Ashton’s overhead kick , Adrián’s goal or singing Paolo Di Canio’s name for the last time at this special stadium.
  • (20) London Liverpool Street and lines to East Anglia will be affected for even longer, from December 24 until January 2, with rail diversions and the replacement buses in place to allow for work on signalling, track and overhead power lines.