over the years
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
during a long period of time
Literally: across the years
Register: neutral
Examples
Thank you for all your help over the years.Cảm ơn tất cả sự giúp đỡ của bạn trong những năm qua.
It would be fun to see how things change over the years.Nó rất vui để nhìn những thứ thay đổi như thế nào trong vài năm
Tatoeba sentence #10775525 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Everyday learner phrase (CEFR B1); level cross-referenced from published learner lists. Definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “over the years” mean?
during a long period of time Literally: across the years
Is “over the years” formal or informal?
over the years is generally neutral.