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What does "over" mean in the following excerpt?

And I wish I could get a stone closer to them. God love my sister, but she got the stone in the next row over when she heard I was looking around for a plot.

This is an excerpt from a graphic memoir called 'Hey Kiddo'. This is the grandpa of the kiddo standing at the tomb of his grandparents and is referring to the area he plans to have his whole family buried (after they die of course).

Maybe it means in the next row.

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{number or increment} {increment type} over is used to indicate a location in a spatial organization scheme, using an implicit or explicit starting location to which the other is relative.

For example, a city grid:

Their house is one street over [from this street].

or an auditorium seating arrangement:

We are seated two rows behind them and three seats over.

or a chess board:

He slid his rook five squares over.

or in this case, a cemetery grid:

My sister got a (cemetery) stone in the next row over [from them].

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  • if 'them' are seated in the 1st row on seats 1 and 2 , then are 'we' seated in the 4th row starting from seat number 6
    – MUMBAS
    Dec 17, 2018 at 18:23
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    It all depends on the relative reference point. "One seat over" from seat #1 is seat #2. Two seats over from seat #1 is seat #3. Three seats over from seat #1 is seat #4. But if I say, "I'm sitting in row 5, three seats over", I'm probably referring to the aisle as my reference point, so that I would be in seat #3. But I'd probably say "three seats in" there, not "over".
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Dec 17, 2018 at 19:37

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