Overlapping means covering or extending over part of something else, like when you lay one sheet of paper partly on top of another so they share some of the same space. When things overlap, they occupy some of the same area or time.

You see overlapping everywhere. Roof shingles overlap so rain can't get through the cracks. Fish scales overlap to protect their bodies. When you shuffle a deck of cards and fan them out, each card overlaps the one beneath it slightly.

The word works for time too. If your soccer practice overlaps with your piano lesson, they happen at the same time, creating a scheduling conflict. When two friends have overlapping interests, they enjoy some of the same things, like both loving science fiction books or video games.

In conversations about ideas, overlapping means having things in common. Two theories might have overlapping explanations. Two circles in a Venn diagram overlap in the middle to show what they share. When a teacher talks about concepts overlapping, she means they connect or share common ground, like how biology and chemistry overlap when studying how cells work.

The verb form is overlap: “The two events overlap for thirty minutes.”