surface — Dizionario inglese

Sostantivo

1. The external boundary of an object or body.

2. The overside or upside of a flat object such as a table, or of a liquid.

   Esempi

   Altri esempi (1)

   A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…].

   Use the lowest light level required. Be mindful of surface conditions, as some surfaces may reflect more light into the night sky than was intended.

3. The outside hull of a tangible object.

   Esempi

   Altri esempi (1)

   Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.

   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across.

4. Outward or external appearance.

   Uso

   • figurato

   Esempi

   On the surface, the spy looked like a typical businessman.

   Altri esempi (2)

   Such characters as have nothing but external accompliſhments to recommend them, may indeed be greatly admired and approved by vain and weak underſtandings, which penetrate no deeper than the ſurface; but they are deſpiſed by all the truly ſenſible, and pitied by all the truly good.

   “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,[…].

5. The locus of an equation (especially one with exactly two degrees of freedom) in a space of more than two dimensions.

6. The story or image suggested by a cryptic clue, when read as a whole sentence without considering wordplay.

   Esempi

   The surface is clearly about people like you and me, those whose better days are behind us and who now shop at M&S.

   Altri esempi (2)

   If you are fooled by the surface you start thinking about internet browsers. But in this case it deviously refers to an animal that feeds by browsing, which is a longer standing use of the word.

   This clue with a booze-related surface uses “sandwich” wordplay, with an insertion of P from “priceless” into “lean to”, which the Oxford Dictionary of English lists as an alternative to “lean towards”, meaning the same as “incline to”.

7. A portion of the display to which graphics can be rendered.

   Esempi

   The video player algorithm requires a target surface.

Verbo

1. To provide with a surface; to apply a surface to.

   Uso

   • transitivo

   Esempi

   The crew surfaced the road with bitumen.

2. To rise to the surface.

   Uso

   • intransitivo

   Esempi

   There was great relief when the missing diver finally surfaced.

   Earlier in the voyage a curious bearded seal (top) had surfaced in Anderson Bay off Victoria Island to inspect us.

3. To bring to the surface.

   Uso

   • transitivo

   Esempi

   Sage went immediately to work; Damien surfaced the submarine and readied the group to meet outside the hatch.

4. To come out of hiding.

   Uso

   • figurato
   • intransitivo

   Esempi

   The company believes the stolen chocolate bars could surface through unofficial sales channels across European markets.

5. To become known or apparent; to appear or be found; to come to light.

   Uso

   • intransitivo
   • of information

   Esempi

   Subordinate clauses, by contrast, exhibit V1 or V2 only around 35% of the time, with the verb usually surfacing later.

   They're not growing. Why would I surface them to new people? [...That] makes our video surface less, and that makes the next video surface less.

6. To make (information, facts, content, etc) known.

   Uso

   • transitivo

   Esempi

   They're not growing. Why would I surface them to new people? [...That] makes our video surface less, and that makes the next video surface less.

7. To work a mine near the surface.

   Uso

   • intransitivo

Aggettivo

1. on the surface

   Contrari

   subsurfaceoverhead

   Esempi

   surface materials of the moon

Sostantivo

1. the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary

   Termini più generali

   artifactartefact

   Esempi

   there is a special cleaner for these surfaces

   the cloth had a pattern of red dots on a white surface

2. the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object

   Termini più generali

   boundaryboundbounds

   Esempi

   they skimmed over the surface of the water

   a brush small enough to clean every dental surface

   Altri esempi (1)

   the sun has no distinct surface

3. the outermost level of the land or sea

   Sinonimi

   Earth's surface

   Termini più generali

   layer

   Esempi

   earthquakes originate far below the surface

   three quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water

4. a superficial aspect as opposed to the real nature of something

   Termini più generali

   aspectfacet

   Esempi

   it was not what it appeared to be on the surface

5. information that has become public

   Sinonimi

   open

   Termini più generali

   public knowledgegeneral knowledge

   Esempi

   all the reports were out in the open

   the facts had been brought to the surface

6. a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight

   Sinonimi

   airfoilaerofoilcontrol surface

   Termini più generali

   device

Verbo

1. come to the surface

   Sinonimi

   come uprise uprise

   Termini più generali

   ascendgo up

2. put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface

   Sinonimi

   coat

   Termini più generali

   cover

   Esempi

   coat the cake with chocolate

3. appear or become visible; make a showing

   Sinonimi

   come oncome outturn upshow up

   Termini più generali

   appear

   Esempi

   She turned up at the funeral

   I hope the list key is going to surface again