Overdrive, what is this?

Hello dear US-Car friends, I have been reading with you here for some time and finally managed to register at MT.de. In another AmiForum a user told me that the automatic transmission of his K5 was in a bucket at some point, because he has always driven in the overdrive. Now I wondered what this overdrive means. Would I really be happy if you could give me an answer I wish you a contemplative Christmas. Keep on cruisin’ Julius