Overhand means thrown with the arm raised above the shoulder. An overhand throw, bowl overhand, an overhand serve.
The raised arm is what gives the distance and the speed, because the whole body can drive the throw. An overhand knot is the simplest of all knots and the start of most others. The opposite is underarm or underhand.
1adjectiveoverhandThrown with the arm raised above the shoulder.
“With one hard overhand throw, she sent the ball right across the field.”
overhand is a manner of throwing.
Also accepted in games: overarm
Middle English
hond
English
hand
English, today
overhand
From over- + hand. hand comes from Middle English hond. From Middle English hond, hand, from Old English hand, from Proto-West Germanic handu, from Proto-Germanic handuz. See also Dutch - and Swedish hand (“hand”), Danish hånd, German Hand, West Frisian hân. Perhaps compare Old Swedish hinna (“to gain”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (“to take captive, capture”); and Latvian sīts (“hunting spear”), Ancient Greek κεντέω (“prick”), Albanian çandër (“pitchfork, prop”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA