Meanings
- idiomaticmediaOf a work submitted for publication, unsolicited.
All the over-the-transom articles are handled by our interns.
1 more example
Only one piece that came in over the transom appears in this issue.
- idiomaticgovernmentMeeting a deadline by delivery after the day of the deadline but before opening of business the following business day.
They worked into the night and sent an associate to make an over-the-transom filing.
Origin
- Latintrānstrum“crossbeam”
- Englishover the transom
A transom is a lintel or crosspiece over a door; likely an alteration of Latin trānstrum (“crossbeam”). Refers to the idea of a writer tossing a manuscript through the open window over the door of the publisher's office. Alternatively, a "transom" is the nautical term for the back of a small boat. Something which "came in over the transom" would have suddenly (and presumably, surprisingly) entered through the "back door" of the craft, metaphorically.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
over the transom. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/over%20the%20transom
“over the transom.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/over%20the%20transom. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “over the transom,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/over%20the%20transom.
Source: over the transom on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.