on top of vs overhead

on top of

prep
  • Atop 

  • Fully informed about, and in control of, something; up to speed with. 

  • Very close to, in any orientation or in time. 

  • In addition to something else. 

overhead

adv
  • Above one's head; in the sky. 

noun
  • Data or steps of computation used only to facilitate the computations in the system and not directly related to the actual program code or data being processed. 

  • Any cost or expenditure (monetary, time, effort or otherwise) incurred in a project or activity, which does not directly contribute to its progress or outcome. 

  • Wasted money. 

  • An overhead projector. 

  • A sheet of transparent material with an image used with an overhead projector; an overhead transparency. 

  • The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided. 

  • The items or classes of expense not directly assigned to goods or services provided. 

  • The ceiling of any enclosed space below decks in a vessel. 

  • The system of overhead wires used to power electric transport, such as streetcars, trains, or buses. 

  • A compartment above the seats for stowing luggage in a passenger aircraft. 

  • An overhead throw. 

  • A smash. 

adj
  • kicked over one's own head 

  • located above, especially over the head 

How often have the words on top of and overhead occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )