Overlay
[əʊvə'leɪ] or ['ovəlɛi]
Definition
(noun.) a layer of decorative material (such as gold leaf or wood veneer) applied over a surface.
(verb.) put something on top of something else; 'cover the meat with a lot of gravy'.
Checked by Genevieve--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To lay, or spread, something over or across; hence, to cover; to overwhelm; to press excessively upon.
(v. t.) To smother with a close covering, or by lying upon.
(v. t.) To put an overlay on.
(n.) A covering.
(n.) A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
(imp.) of Overlie
Inputed by Joanna
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Cover, spread over.[2]. Crush, smother.
Inputed by Jesse
Definition
v.t. to spread over or across: to cover completely: to smother by lying on (for overlie): to use overlays in printing: to cloud: to overwhelm or oppress: to span by means of a bridge.—ns. O′verlay a piece of paper pasted on the impression-surface of a printing-press so as to increase the impression in a place where it is too faint: (Scot.) a cravat; Overlay′ing a superficial covering: that which overlays: plating.
Edited by Dorothy
Examples
- He also made very beautiful tiles to overlay walls, stoves, and floors. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- And yet there were indications there, had they not been overlaid by other details which concealed their true import. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- He was not temporarily overlaid with the colour; it permeated him. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- His countenance was overlaid with legible meanings. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Nature's handiwork never was disguised with such extraordinary artificial carving, as the man had overlaid his countenance with in one moment. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- What was vital was overlaid and hidden by what was irrelevant. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Previously his story was overlaid by monstrous accumulations of legend, and his teaching violently misconceived. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Typist: Rebecca