surface

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a superficial aspect as opposed to the real nature of something

   it was not what it appeared to be on the surface

2. 2
   noun

   the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object

   they skimmed over the surface of the water

3. 3
   noun

   the outermost level of the land or sea

   earthquakes originate far below the surface

4. 4
   verb

   put a coat on

   cover the surface of

5. 5
   adj

   on the surface

   surface materials of the moon

6. 6
   noun

   the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary

   there is a special cleaner for these surfaces

7. 7
   noun

   The overside or upside 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,[…].

8. 8
   noun

   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.

Etymology

From Middle French surface. By surface analysis, sur- + face. Doublet of superficies.