What does surface mean?

Definitions for surface
ˈsɜr fɪssur·face

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word surface.

Princeton's WordNet(3.80 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

surface(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"; "the cloth had a pattern of red dots on a white surface"
surface(noun)
the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object
"they skimmed over the surface of the water"; "a brush small enough to clean every dental surface"; "the sun has no distinct surface"
surface, Earth's surface(noun)
the outermost level of the land or sea
"earthquakes originate far below the surface"; "three quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water"
surface(noun)
a superficial aspect as opposed to the real nature of something
"it was not what it appeared to be on the surface"
open, surface(noun)
information that has become public
"all the reports were out in the open"; "the facts had been brought to the surface"
airfoil, aerofoil, control surface, surface(adj)
a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight
surface(verb)
on the surface
"surface materials of the moon"
surface, come up, rise up, rise(verb)
come to the surface
coat, surface(verb)
put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface
"coat the cake with chocolate"
come on, come out, turn up, surface, show up(verb)
appear or become visible; make a showing
"She turned up at the funeral"; "I hope the list key is going to surface again"

GCIDE(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

Surface(v. i.)
To rise from the depths of a liquid to the surface; as, the submarine surfaced to recharge its batteries.
Surface(v. i.)
To become known or public; -- said of information.
Surface(v. i.)
To show up, as a person who was in hiding; as, he absconded with the payroll and surfaced in Argentina.

Wiktionary(3.33 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

surface(Noun)
The up-side of a flat object such as a table, or of a liquid.
surface(Noun)
The outside hull of a tangible object.
surface(Noun)
The locus of an equation (especially one with exactly two degrees of freedom) in a more-than-two-dimensional space.
surface(Verb)
To provide something with a surface.
surface(Verb)
To apply a surface to something.
surface(Verb)
To rise to the surface.
surface(Verb)
To come out of hiding.
surface(Verb)
For information or facts to become known.
surface(Verb)
To work a mine near the surface.
surface(Verb)
To appear or be found.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Surface(noun)
the exterior part of anything that has length and breadth; one of the limits that bound a solid, esp. the upper face; superficies; the outside; as, the surface of the earth; the surface of a diamond; the surface of the body
Etymology: [F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial.]
Surface(noun)
hence, outward or external appearance
Etymology: [F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial.]
Surface(noun)
a magnitude that has length and breadth without thickness; superficies; as, a plane surface; a spherical surface
Etymology: [F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial.]
Surface(noun)
that part of the side which is terminated by the flank prolonged, and the angle of the nearest bastion
Etymology: [F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial.]
Surface(verb)
to give a surface to; especially, to cause to have a smooth or plain surface; to make smooth or plain
Etymology: [F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial.]
Surface(verb)
to work over the surface or soil of, as ground, in hunting for gold
Etymology: [F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

Surface
In mathematics, specifically, in topology, a surface is a two-dimensional, topological manifold. The most familiar examples are those that arise as the boundaries of solid objects in ordinary three-dimensional Euclidean space R³ — for example, the surface of a ball. On the other hand, there are surfaces, such as the Klein bottle, that cannot be embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space without introducing singularities or self-intersections. To say that a surface is "two-dimensional" means that, about each point, there is a coordinate patch on which a two-dimensional coordinate system is defined. For example, the surface of the Earth is a two-dimensional sphere, and latitude and longitude provide two-dimensional coordinates on it. The concept of surface finds application in physics, engineering, computer graphics, and many other disciplines, primarily in representing the surfaces of physical objects. For example, in analyzing the aerodynamic properties of an airplane, the central consideration is the flow of air along its surface.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Surface
sur′fās, n. the exterior part of anything.—adj. Sur′faced, having a surface.—ns. Sur′faceman, a miner employed in open-air working: a workman employed in keeping a railway-bed in repair; Sur′face-print′ing, printing from a relief surface, as cotton-cloth; Sur′facer, one who, or that which, smooths or levels a surface; Sur′face-ten′sion, in liquids, that property in virtue of which a liquid surface behaves as if it were a stretched elastic membrane—say a sheet of india-rubber; Sur′face-wa′ter, drainage-water; Sur′facing, the act of giving a certain surface to anything. [Fr., from sur—L. super, and face—L. facies.]

The Standard Electrical Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Surface
A galvanic battery is arranged in surface when all the positive plates are connected together and all the negative plates are also connected. This makes it equivalent to one large cell, the surface of whose plates would be equal to the aggregate surface of the plates of the battery. It is also used as an adjective, as "a surface arrangement of battery."

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

surface
In fortification, that part of the side which is terminated by the flank prolonged, and the angle of the nearest bastion; the double of this line with the curtain is equal to the exterior side.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

surface
A type of material.
The surface of the cooker was made of a variety of materials.
Submitted by MaryC on February 27, 2020
surface
An area or space.
The surface of the desk was ample for them to work efficiently.
Submitted by MaryC on April 14, 2020

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

surface
Song lyrics by surface -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by surface on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surface' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1099
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surface' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2831
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surface' in Nouns Frequency: #431

How to pronounce surface?

Alex
US English
Daniel
British
Karen
Australian
Veena
Indian

How to say surface in sign language?

Numerology

Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of surface in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of surface in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of surface in a Sentence

Karl Mitchell:
Triton is weird, but yet relevantly weird, because of the science we can do there, we know the surface has all these features weve never seen before, which motivates us to want to know How does this world work ? Global color mosaic of Triton, taken in 1989 by Voyager 2 during its flyby of the Neptune system. ( Credit : NASA/JPL/USGS) NEPTUNES MOONS ARE IN A DANCE OF AVOIDANCE, NASA SAYS.
Benjamin Weiss:
This may have prevented the surface from being space weathered and the soil becoming rich in solar gases like it is today.
David Blewett:
The hollows are remarkable because they have a crisp, fresh appearance, they are probably younger than a few tens of millions of years, but some hollows are probably forming today. It is amazing to find ongoing geological activity modifying the surface of Mercury.
Edward Guinan:
Geothermal heating could support' life zones' under its surface, akin to subsurface lakes found in Antarctica, we note that the surface temperature on Jupiter's icy moon Europa is similar to Edward Emerson Barnard b, but because of tidal heating, Europa probably has liquid oceans under its icy surface.
Sloane Stephens:
Clay is a neutraliser. It's good for everybody... Court Philippe-Chatrier's improved Court Philippe-Chatrier results on clay, so Court Philippe-Chatrier obviously is feeling good on the surface, a quarter-final of a slam is definitely a neutraliser. There's a lot of factors that go into that. ( I'm) just going to go out and execute and I'm sure Court Philippe-Chatrier'll do the same and we'll have a good match.