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I am aware of the fact that the idiom:

Over and over again.

means repeatedly. But which meaning of the adverb over is being used in the idiom above? does it mean "Throughout a period of time"?

1 Answer 1

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It doesn't have the sense of "throughout a period", much more "in its entirety".

The OED gives several very closely related uses, earliest from the 1400s.

  • With a preceding numeral adverb, expressing repetition He read it twice over
  • over again: a second time: This is the old, old song over again.
  • over and over: repeatedly, many times over. Also over and over again. The French played those two songs over and over again.

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