Meaning & use
surface
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The outside or top layer of something, which you can touch or see.
Grammar: Countable: a smooth surface, the surface of the water.
Patterns
- on the surface of something
- a surface for something
Wipe the kitchen surface with a damp cloth.
The surface of the lake was perfectly still.
The road surface was icy this morning.
nounusually singularfigurative
The outer appearance of something, which may hide what is really there.
Grammar: Often singular and figurative: on the surface, below the surface.
Patterns
- on the surface
- beneath the surface
On the surface, the plan seemed perfectly sensible.
Beneath the surface, the team was deeply unhappy.
Her calm manner hid the nerves under the surface.
verbintransitive
To rise up to the top of water or the ground, or to come out into view after being hidden.
Grammar: No object: the whale surfaced; new problems surfaced.
Patterns
- surface from something
- surface after something
The diver surfaced slowly after twenty minutes underwater.
Old rumors began to surface again before the election.
A few weeks later, the missing letter surfaced in a drawer.
verbtransitive
To cover a road, path, or other area with a layer of hard material.
Grammar: Takes an object: they surfaced the road with tarmac.
Patterns
- surface something with something
Workers will surface the car park with fresh asphalt next week.
The path was surfaced with fine gravel.
The council plans to surface the old track.
Word forms
| plural | surfaces |
|---|---|
| third person singular | surfaces |
| past tense | surfaced |
| past participle | surfaced |
| -ing form | surfacing |
Common combinations
- a smooth surface
- Paint goes on best on a smooth surface.
- surface area
- A flat sheet has a large surface area.
- scratch the surface
- We have only scratched the surface of the problem.
- rise to the surface
- Bubbles rose to the surface of the pond.
- on the surface
- On the surface, everything looked normal.
- surface water
- Surface water collected in puddles along the road.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exterior
- Exterior means the outside part of a building or object and sounds more formal than surface.
- top
- Top is the uppermost part, while surface can be any outer layer including a side.
- emerge
- Emerge, as a verb, suggests coming out of hiding more gradually, while surface can mean a sudden appearance.
- appearance
- Appearance is the way something looks in general, while the figurative surface suggests that the look may be misleading.
Opposites
Word family
- surfacing noun
- a hard top layer put on a road, or the act of rising to the surface
- resurface verb
- to come back up or appear again
- subsurface adjective
- lying below the surface
- superficial adjective
- affecting only the surface, not deep
Commonly confused: surface or superficial?
surface vs superficial
Superficial describes things that are shallow or not deep, while surface is the outer layer itself.
Practice
After weeks of silence, the old controversy began to ___ again in the news.
Choose one answer.
To surface means to come into view after being hidden, which fits a returning controversy. Sink, submerge, and vanish all mean to go out of view.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “surface”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.