Definition of surface in English:

surface

Pronunciation /ˈsərfəs/

See synonyms for surface

Translate surface into Spanish

noun

1The outside part or uppermost layer of something (often used when describing its texture, form, or extent)
‘the earth's surface’
- ‘poor road surfaces’
- ‘A survey of 2,200 drivers showed that one in three suffered mood changes blaming the weather, tiredness or even poor road surfaces.’
- ‘City of York Council chiefs said the work had to be done because the road surface was in such poor condition.’
- ‘Tyres fail to grip when brakes are applied and contact with the road surface is poor.’
- ‘The local authority will also have to take more responsibility for poor quality road surfaces and signs in the town.’
- ‘The answer was to give all X-type models four-wheel drive and this accounts for the car's truly exceptional handling and roadholding, even on poor road surfaces.’
- ‘This results in very fine handling and roadholding and on poor road surfaces, the suspension gave a truly mature ride.’
- ‘However, under Irish conditions, it is handicapped by its inability to cope with poor road surfaces.’
- ‘Where road surfaces were particularly poor it is possible that horseback may have been preferred.’
- ‘On the inside they found that it looked much like the outside surface.’
- ‘The road surface has been in a poor state for several months and news that remedial action is about to take place is indeed welcome.’
- ‘This meant that water from the road was not being directed into the sewer and instead was washing the earth away from under the road surface.’
- ‘The road surface had become uneven with potholes and poor camber.’
- ‘Outside, non-transparent surfaces are clad in copper.’
- ‘A little over 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water.’
- ‘Care should be taken not to scratch the smooth surface of the bat.’
- ‘On sunny days, scratch the soil surface and examine debris to see if worms are hiding under it.’
- ‘The rover could reach the Martian surface as early as Wednesday morning.’
- ‘Mulching is a simple process of covering the soil surface with materials to prevent direct evaporation of soil moisture.’
- ‘When the stigma lobes spread out, this pollen is then deposited on the inner stigmatic surface.’
- ‘Uneven road surfaces stressed the joint where the lead trailer attached to the truck, and weakened the frame.’
outside, exterior
View synonyms
1. 1.1The level top of something.
  ‘roll out the dough on a floured surface’
  ‘Assemble the table on a level surface, turn the top wheel upside down and place the seat wheel on top of it.’
  ‘To start the engine hold the saw firmly in a position on a level surface by putting the right foot in the handle and making sure the chain is clear.’
  ‘Make sure to position barbecues on firm, level surfaces before starting to cook and never carry or move a lit barbecue.’
  ‘All level surfaces are covered with stacks of books and DVDs, and a thick layer of dust sits on anything I'm not immediately using.’
  ‘Level surfaces for push-ups, burpees and crunches are also abundant.’
  ‘Slab sawing, flat sawing and floor sawing are done on reasonably level surfaces.’
  ‘Begin by placing the cordial container on a level surface to allow the sediment to settle.’
  ‘Simple single-basin distillers work best on flat, level surfaces, and can be constructed fairly easily.’
  ‘All you need to provide is a level surface, a power supply and about £7,000.’
  ‘Using a small spoon, sprinkle the surface with sago flour.’
  ‘Turn out the mixture on to a surface lightly dusted with flour and shape into a round of about 2.5cm thick.’
  ‘Lay the ladder down on its side on a level surface, then park the mower right on top of the ladder legs.’
  ‘Set the peel on a level surface and dust with about 2 tbsp of cornmeal.’
  ‘It was important for the candle to sit on a level surface and not turn over when it was lit.’
  ‘In each case, when it came time to start rolling, I first lightly floured the rolling surface.’
  ‘What's the advice that books always give after they tell you to lightly flour your baking surface?’
  ‘Add just enough flour to the rolling surface to keep the dough from sticking.’
  ‘Her father had saved it since the smooth, flat surface was still workable.’
  ‘Creating a flat, smooth surface is a skill that some finishers develop quickly, while others never do.’
  ‘Knead it by hand a couple of times on a flat, floured surface.’
  work surface, top, counter, table, stand, horizontal surface
  View synonyms
2. 1.2The area of such an outer part or uppermost layer.
  ‘the surface area of a cube’
  ‘Untouched wild places have now shrunk to one-sixth of the Earth's land surface.’
3. 1.3in singular The upper limit of a body of liquid.
  ‘fish floating on the surface of the water’
  ‘It is universally understood that heaving a major portion of your body over the surface of the water is a tough thing to do.’
  ‘Why can we see beneath water whereas the ray of vision reflects off opaque bodies and the surface of water is opaque?’
  ‘She was veiled in a dark cloak, billowing around her slim body and skimming the surface of the water.’
  ‘Although they are rather tough, the bulk of the plant is limited to the water surface.’
  ‘Packages are shaped and sealed below the surface of the liquid to lock out air space in the package.’
  ‘The meniscus is the curved, upper surface of a liquid formed when in a tube.’
  ‘This gives the surface of the sea water a real froth, and fills the room with an ozone tang as sharp as if you had jammed your nose in a giant photocopier.’
  ‘As Pen stared into the darkness she began to see images float across it like leaves across the surface of a body of water.’
  ‘The surface of the liquid undulated gently, then more insistently, looking, not just a little, as though it were alive.’
  ‘The pollution is immense, and there are pieces or rubbish floating on the surface of the water.’
  ‘The blue light flashed across the water's surface, turning her body different shades of blues and aquas.’
  ‘Then her gaze shifted to the insects that were skimming the surface of the water like it was glass.’
  ‘Most of the pictorial interest here is concentrated in the reflective surface of the water.’
  ‘However, if it rains, then the surface of their pond becomes rippled.’
  ‘Avoid installing directly under trees where leaves will clutter the surface of the pond.’
  ‘The surface of a pond represents mental possibility, everything you imagine you could attain.’
4. 1.4in singular What is apparent on a casual view or consideration of someone or something, especially as distinct from feelings or qualities that are not immediately obvious.
  ‘Tom was a womanizer, but on the surface he remained respectable’
  ‘we need to go beyond surface appearances’
  ‘Both see the lasting truth beneath the surface of mere outward appearance.’
  ‘What distinguished many of the Young British Artists was their reluctance to probe beyond the surface of appearance.’
  ‘We peer deep beneath the surface of appearances, and far into the cosmic past.’
  ‘For him, enlightenment can be attained with a simple cruise along the surface of appearance.’
  ‘The rage that sits just below the surface of civil society comes closest to the skin at the front lines of retail.’
  ‘It's only because of this carefree approach to life that this crime-ridden society appears on the surface to be normal.’
  ‘This difference is the source of surplus value, which appears on the surface of society in the form of profit, interest and rent.’
  ‘One moves on, yet the pains and joys remain below the surface for years and cannot really be discussed.’
  ‘Part of its success is what lies below the surface of society.’
  ‘Often after a loss, a storm of inner turmoil and stress remains just below the surface.’
  ‘Gillian's character, Lady Dedlock, is a society beauty and on the surface appears icy cool.’
  ‘On the surface, the obvious answer seems to be affirmative.’
  ‘Young artists of this era rarely try to get the gist of their times by describing surface appearances.’
  ‘Organised religion in this, the world's most populous Muslim country, is often seen as little more than a veneer on the surface of society.’
  ‘Obviously violence is there just under the surface in every society.’
  ‘It's just a metaphor for self-awareness and seeing what's beyond the surface.’
  ‘This is an intriguing study based on a wealth of knowledge combined with a capacity to see beyond the surface to the truths that lie beneath.’
  ‘The camera never tries to go beyond the surface, leaving that to the audience.’
  ‘I despair that the public doesn't seem to be able to consider anything beyond the surface.’
  ‘If you look, you can read a story in a face, but the motive of this project has been to explore beyond the surface, past the face.’
  outward appearance, superficial appearance, facade
  at first glance, to the casual eye, outwardly, to all appearances, apparently, ostensibly, superficially, externally, visibly
  View synonyms
2Geometry
A continuous set of points that has length and breadth but no thickness.
‘Among closed surfaces, spherical, flat, and hyperbolic geometry are mutually exclusive.’
- ‘In this case, the toroidal surface has become an off-axis segment of an ellipsoid.’
- ‘He also considered curves of double curvature on the sphere and the quadrature of parts of a spherical surface.’
- ‘I found there that the solution of Archytus involves three surfaces - torus, cylinder, and cone.’
- ‘The following year he published in Crelle's Journal a paper giving results about trigonometric formulas on surfaces of constant curvature.’

adjective

attributive

1Relating to or occurring on the upper or outer part of something.
‘surface workers at the copper mines’
- ‘The fish seem to love the surface layers at this budget-priced urban oasis with a couple of anglers getting a bite with chuck fishing casters on the drop.’
- ‘Ground-source heat pumps pull energy from solar heat stored in the surface layer of the ground.’
- ‘When the vegetation dies, the dead biomass eventually becomes peat in the surface layer where it is subjected to decomposition.’
- ‘Mixing takes place in the cascading surface layer as falling particles collide and are buried by later arrivals.’
- ‘On the north-facing slope, potassium and calcium contents were the highest in the surface layer.’
- ‘This partitioning will reduce the equilibrium molar fraction of cholesterol in the surface layers.’
- ‘Peatlands have a well-developed surface layer that has been described as having as many as six sub-units within it.’
- ‘Hydrogen bonds are also responsible for water's high surface tension and specific and latent heats.’
- ‘They suggest that surface tension does play an important role in determining recoil in emphysema.’
- ‘Then it held more surface water than a flat roof.’
- ‘Once depressions are full, there will be more surface runoff because of the slower infiltration rate.’
- ‘The thin alkaline soils are extremely infertile, and there is no fresh surface water.’
- ‘He was involved in the move to deep level mining, when surface mining dried up.’
- ‘Avoid surface layers with high clay content because they often result in poor stands.’
- ‘Each of these parameters represents an attempt to characterize surface roughness with a single number.’
- ‘They need to know the surface roughness to control how the pill feels on the tongue.’
- ‘We can observe the surface roughness and the gloss on the image.’
- ‘Some objects reflect more or less light because of their surface texture or color.’
- ‘Surface texture is one of the more compelling features of much original art work.’
- ‘Corn planting occurred where surface moisture conditions permitted and soil temperatures were warm enough.’
superficial, external, exterior, outward, seeming, ostensible, apparent, cosmetic, skin deep
View synonyms
1. 1.1Denoting ships which travel on the surface of the water as distinct from submarines.
  ‘the surface fleet’
  ‘The primary mission of Neustrashimy Class frigates is to combat submarines and surface ships.’
  ‘Testing surface ships by submarines is just one of the facets of RIMPAC 04.’
  ‘It was the second participation by a surface ship of the Royal Navy.’
  ‘The only Navy left should be a fleet of submarines and a few surface ships on par with Coast Guard cutters.’
  ‘The most obvious of these was probably the naval combat involving both surface vessels and submarines.’
  ‘Any new orders could be acted on by surface ships - submarines were not in a position to get any new orders let alone act on them.’
  ‘The RAN sent surface ships Newcastle, Success and Parramatta and the submarine Rankin.’
  ‘Flooding in a submarine can present even more drastic problems than on a surface ship.’
  ‘It was the first attack by a British submarine on a surface vessel since World War II.’
  ‘Such ideas have predictably drawn fire from officers who see them as a threat to existing surface ship programs.’
  ‘Destroyers used to be for a long time one of the most numerous classes of surface ships.’
  ‘If he wants to be a surface ship killer, he can choose a variant that allows him to do that.’
  ‘The relationship between surface fleet and submarines did not improve during the war.’
  ‘It would be easier to send down one of the robot vehicles, unmanned but tethered to a surface ship, with cameras and that sort of thing.’
  ‘The surface ship will get underway and then we'll be ready to go.’
  ‘On current trends, manned aircraft and big surface ships may well disappear within a few more decades.’
  ‘By 2020, as noted already, Navy surface warships might well number scarcely more than ninety.’
  ‘It's ultimately the responsibility of the submarine to remain clear of surface vessels.’
  ‘I realised that it had to be a surface vessel, but could not work out how it could be so noisy at depth.’
  ‘Anti-submarine warfare is an area where the advantage swings between the surface fleet and the submerged boats.’
2. 1.2Carried by or denoting transportation by sea or overland as contrasted with by air.
  ‘surface mail’
  ‘And Little England gears to upgrade surface transportation in readiness for the cricket World Cup.’
  ‘In the morning we will fly on to Yundum airport and take surface transportation into Banjul, the capital of The Gambia.’
  ‘We should just switch to IM-based communication, and treat email like fax or surface mail.’
  ‘The demand from drug gangs for firearms has created a trade in cheap lethal weapons, easily imported, often even sent by surface mail.’
  ‘She prepared the package and sent it by surface mail because of the huge cost of postage for air mail, then we both sat back to wait.’
  ‘One of our suppliers despatched a small parcel to us by surface mail on September 30.’
  ‘These included air access and regional airport ownership surface transport and estuary development.’
  ‘Two thousand two hundred questionnaires were distributed by e-mail, and 275 were sent by surface mail.’
  ‘Instead, users have to download and fill in a coupon and then send it via surface mail.’
  ‘I was referring to the surface transport costs and charges study commissioned by the Ministry of Transport.’

verb

1no object Rise or come up to the surface of the water or the ground.
‘he surfaced from his dive’
- ‘He smiled at his wife before diving into the cool water, surfacing and glancing at Emily expectantly.’
- ‘She did an almost perfect dive into the water as well and surfaced next to him.’
- ‘Adri surfaced and wiped the water off of her face.’
- ‘I hit the water and surfaced, looking back to see Scott pointing west.’
- ‘After more than six hours in the water he surfaced in excellent humour, quietly resigned to the setback.’
- ‘Kat leaned over and watched the water for him to surface, but it was taking too long.’
- ‘It was a successful dive and I surfaced with 36 pictures.’
- ‘I surfaced after a night dive along the mountainous west coast of Majorca.’
- ‘When I surfaced, I saw Laura floating face down in the water.’
- ‘After surfacing from our dive there, we spotted two southern right whales.’
- ‘When Mac surfaced from his initial dive, the worst of the chill was just beginning to dissipate.’
- ‘Manatees usually stay submerged for about two minutes before surfacing to breathe air.’
- ‘Thus, it is crucial to be able to anticipate where and when the whales will surface to breathe.’
- ‘Researchers on shore received the data when the whales surfaced for air.’
come to the surface, come to the top, come up, rise
View synonyms
1. 1.1Come to people's attention; become apparent.
  ‘the quarrel first surfaced two years ago’
  ‘Had they both had a chance of success, the issue might have surfaced and received the real attention which the main parties tried to stifle.’
  ‘Two main issues have surfaced with the presence of IM on corporate networks.’
  ‘A last-minute story has surfaced, designed apparently to damage the Bush effort for the presidency.’
  ‘Occasionally, nuggets of dark humour surfaced unexpectedly in an apparently innocent routine, sending a shockwave through her audience.’
  ‘Now, a new challenger has surfaced, one that apparently will not stop until it attains supremacy or is eliminated.’
  ‘Prejudices instilled in us long ago had surfaced with frightening force in a totally different context, many miles and several decades away from the conditions that created them.’
  ‘As a democratic ‘rule of law’ issue, it surfaces again and again.’
  ‘For the 62-year-old Howard, who already has served two three-year terms, those issues could not have surfaced at a better moment.’
  ‘The students did an amazing job, and more issues and emotions surfaced in those two hours than in a semester's worth of most academic work.’
  ‘I know that disability was an issue that surfaced quite a bit during the election campaign, and it hurt the Government parties as much as any other issue did.’
  ‘The issue first surfaced when there was that 18-18 tie after the 2001 general election.’
  ‘Apologists for high tax rates are surfacing again in the media.’
  ‘He could even laugh about rumors that surfaced recently on the Internet that he had died.’
  ‘Rumors surface periodically that he's on the way out.’
  ‘Allegations in respect of these conversations first surfaced at a much later date.’
  ‘Visa problems first surfaced for PSA squash players at the US Open last December in Boston.’
  ‘Doubts about the consciousness of animals occasionally surfaced even in classical antiquity.’
  ‘I'm sure some pictures will surface soon.’
  ‘The passage that I had read years ago surfaced in my mind.’
  ‘We protect ourselves by never letting these mutually exclusive beliefs surface at the same time.’
  emerge, arise, appear, come to light, come up, come into sight, come into view, come out, crop up, materialize, become visible, spring up, loom
  View synonyms
2. 1.2informal (of a person) appear after having been asleep.
  ‘it was almost noon before Anthony surfaced’
  ‘The scene was still and quiet, but all the same I had surfaced from my dreams nervously, with heavy breathing.’
  get up, get out of bed, appear, rise, wake, awaken
  View synonyms
2usually be surfacedwith object Provide (something, especially a road) with a particular upper or outer layer.
‘a small path surfaced with terra-cotta tiles’
- ‘Concrete blocks to surface the roads can be constructed in a process similar to the roof tiles.’
- ‘Mrs Mountford said the final houses had been built on the estate last September and the developer had promised to surface the roads but no progress had been made.’
- ‘Local firm Chestnut Developments had wanted to build in the gardens and surface the unmade lane.’
- ‘An excellent job has been done and the remainder of the slip road will be surfaced when further finance becomes available.’
- ‘About 43 streets were surfaced in this project.’
- ‘This will enable Ballykealey lane to be surfaced as well as the Royal Oak Road to be finished with new paths and road surface.’
- ‘The dam was silted up because the surrounding roads had not been properly surfaced, says resident engineer Cass Bhamiee.’
- ‘Unfortunately it took several decades before even the main road through their town had been surfaced.’
- ‘That underlay has now been surfaced with bitumen and chippings and has improved the structure and surface of the road.’