overhear
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As I reviewed Tuesday’s events at a bar near Altman’s home in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
One can opt to be a relatively passive observer trying to overhear conversations and uncover the various storylines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
Sometimes I just watch, trying to melt into a crowd, to overhear conversations, to spot glances and gestures and to see who leads and who follows.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2025
I regularly overhear other birders marveling over the flashy warblers in breeding plumage, while overlooking other comparatively less-flashy birds like vireos and sparrows.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2025
I dared not glance over to where Mrs. Moss and Melissa were sitting in the living room, but I knew they were close enough to overhear every word.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
It is she who ensures Heathcliff overhears Cathy as she laments how marrying him would degrade her, causing him to flee Wuthering Heights and leave Cathy to marry Edgar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
When he overhears Jonathan describing him as having, “too much money and no taste,” Ripley feels slighted, which is why he gets Jonathan involved in doing Reeves’ dirty work.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2024
Another time she gets caught short when hill walking and with her trousers still around her ankles overhears one of her children tell a passer-by that "mummy is off having a wee".
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024
All seems idyllic — until the day Beth, approaching her husband and brother-in-law in a store, overhears Don saying that he doesn’t like her new novel at all, but he can’t tell her.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2023
Our waiter overhears my mom’s impromptu poetry recital and tells us that the statue was built years ago and kept in storage for over a decade because Spaniards are divided in their feelings for Lorca.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
She only learned about the reintroduction plan after asking rangers about discussions she had overheard.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
One local, wearing a traffic cone hat was overheard saying he was "totally bummed" his kilt didn't arrive in time.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
In one office I overheard a press secretary and a chief of staff talking about music.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Another snippet I overheard in Studio City: “You gotta make music from the heart, man, and the label will feel it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026
I thought I overheard Miss Havisham answer,—only it seemed so unlikely,—“Well? You can break his heart.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
A tipster in the southern U.S. recalled overhearing a conversation that seemed to connect a local woman to the pipe bombs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
In notes found by Antony in the suitcase, Peter recalled overhearing conversations between his parents, and whispers about Nazi threats.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025
“Kids are often being exposed to these topics anyway, through their peers, the media and overhearing conversations,” said Wenner Moyer.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2024
The excerpt revealed that when Washington was just 7, she developed panic attacks at night from overhearing her parents’ shouting matches in the next room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023
Meg stopped there, remembering all of a sudden that she hadn’t made up her mind, that she had told ‘her John’ to go away, and that he might be overhearing her inconsistent remarks.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
