overarching

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəɹˈɑːtʃɪŋ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹt͡ʃɪŋ/, /ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹkɪŋ/

overarching

1. present participle and gerund of overarch

overarching (comparative more overarching, superlative most overarching)

1. That forms an overhead arch
2. (by extension) all-embracing or overwhelming

   Synonyms: all-embracing, all-encompassing

   The work attains narrative continuity, variety in its stories, and unity through the overarching idea of metamorphosis.

   • 2020 May 20, David Thrower, Ian Wray, “Revisiting the plan for developing the North's rail network”, in Rail, page 39:

     Firstly, there needs to be an overarching plan - in the sense that each part of the rail system must be considered together, precisely because it is an integrated network.

overarching (plural overarchings)

1. A structure that arches over something.
   • 1875, Julius Sachs, Alfred William Bennett, William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, Text-book of Botany: Morphological and Physiological, page 27:

     But in this case the overarchings do not grow uniformly, but in such a manner that their rims form at least a fissure […]

• “overarching”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.