Surface

//ˈsɝːfəs// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    on the surface wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    The overside or up-side of a flat object such as a table, or of a liquid.

    "A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…]."

  2. 2
    a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight wordnet
  3. 3
    The outside hull of a tangible object.

    "Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything."

  4. 4
    the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary wordnet
  5. 5
    Outward or external appearance. figuratively

    "On the surface, the spy looked like a typical businessman."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    information that has become public wordnet
  2. 7
    The locus of an equation (especially one with exactly two degrees of freedom) in a space of more than two dimensions.
  3. 8
    a superficial aspect as opposed to the real nature of something wordnet
  4. 9
    The story or image suggested by a cryptic clue, when read as a whole sentence without considering wordplay.

    "The surface is clearly about people like you and me, those whose better days are behind us and who now shop at M&S."

  5. 10
    the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object wordnet
  6. 11
    the outermost level of the land or sea wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To provide with a surface; to apply a surface to. transitive

    "The crew surfaced the road with bitumen."

  2. 2
    appear or become visible; make a showing wordnet
  3. 3
    To rise to the surface. intransitive

    "There was great relief when the missing diver finally surfaced."

  4. 4
    put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface wordnet
  5. 5
    To bring to the surface. transitive

    "Sage went immediately to work; Damien surfaced the submarine and readied the group to meet outside the hatch."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    come to the surface wordnet
  2. 7
    To come out of hiding. figuratively, intransitive
  3. 8
    To become known or apparent; to appear or be found; to come to light. intransitive

    "Subordinate clauses, by contrast, exhibit V1 or V2 only around 35% of the time, with the verb usually surfacing later."

  4. 9
    To make (information, facts, content, etc) known. transitive

    "They're not growing. Why would I surface them to new people? [...That] makes our video surface less, and that makes the next video surface less."

  5. 10
    To work a mine near the surface. intransitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From French surface. Doublet of superficies.

Etymology 2

From French surface. Doublet of superficies.

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