From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishovertureo‧ver‧ture /ˈəʊvətjʊə, -tʃʊə, -tʃə $ ˈoʊvərtjʊr, -tʃʊr, -tʃər/ noun 1 [countable]APM a short piece of music written as an introduction to a long piece of music, especially an opera2 → overtures3 → be an overture
Examples from the Corpus
overture• He began to tell his family she was his girlfriend although in reality she had rejected his overtures.• In fact, I had once or twice let myself be tempted into making overtures to her.• Opera overtures usually contain all the main musical themes of the opera, and should be listened to with the curtain down.• Californians have already begun seeing overtures from retailers as the competition stirs.• sexual overtures• The Svoboda overture seemed a minor but palpable discovery.• So in the overture they put Reuben Reeves on stage doing some of Louis's tunes.• At this overture, Alice looked perplexed.• Colours echo with overtures of country lane rambles, windswept beaches and wild flower-filled meadows.Origin overture (1400-1500) Old French “opening”, from Latin apertura; → APERTURE 