Meaning & use
Inlay
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A design or piece of material, such as wood, metal, or gemstone, set into the surface of another material for decoration.
See it in a sentence
The jewelry box featured a delicate inlay of mother-of-pearl.
Craftsmen used a silver inlay to decorate the handle of the sword.
A note on using this word
As a verb, 'inlay' means to embed such a design into a surface; the noun and verb are spelled the same but stressed differently in speech (IN-lay vs in-LAY).
Words with a similar meaning
insetintarsia
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. verb
To set a design or piece of material into the surface of an object as decoration.
Artisans inlaid the tabletop with strips of ebony and ivory.
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