layer

[ ley-er ]

noun

1. a thickness of some material laid on or spread over a surface:

   a layer of soot on the windowsill; two layers of paint.

2. something lying over or under something else; a level or tier:

   There can be multiple layers of metaphor in a single poem.

3. a bed; stratum:

   alternating layers of basalt and sandstone.

4. a person or thing that lays (often used in combination): a bricklayer.

   a carpet layer;

   a bricklayer.

5. a hen kept for egg production.
6. one of several items of clothing worn one on top of the other.
7. Horticulture.
   1. a shoot or twig that is induced to root while still attached to the living stock, as by bending and covering with soil.
   2. a plant so propagated.
8. Ropemaking. a machine for laying rope or cable.

verb (used with object)

1. to make a layer of.
2. to form or arrange in layers.
3. to arrange or wear (clothing) in layers:

   You can layer this vest over a blouse or sweater.

4. to cut (hair) in overlapping layers of different lengths:

   My hairdresser insisted on layering my hair at my last visit—I rather like it this way.

5. Horticulture. to propagate by layering.

verb (used without object)

1. to separate into or form layers.
2. (of a garment) to permit of wearing in layers; be used in layering:

   Frilly blouses don't layer well.

layer

/ ˈleɪə /

noun

1. a thickness of some homogeneous substance, such as a stratum or a coating on a surface
2. one of four or more levels of vegetation defined in ecological studies: the ground or moss layer, the field or herb layer, the shrub layer, and one or more tree layers
3. a laying hen
4. horticulture
   1. a shoot or branch rooted during layering
   2. a plant produced as a result of layering

verb

1. to form or make a layer of (something)
2. to take root or cause to take root by layering

Other Words From

• lay·er·a·ble adjective
• in·ter·lay·er noun
• in·ter·lay·er verb (used with object)
• non·lay·ered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of layer¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English leyer, legger; lay ¹, -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of layer¹

C14 leyer, legger, from lay ¹+ -er ¹

Example Sentences

Just who is crazy enough to go swimming when the pond across the street has a layer of ice across the top?

From The Daily Beast

When summer comes, adult beetles attack and larva feed in the cambium layer, girdling the trees and sealing their doom.

From The Daily Beast

After maybe an hour, the firefighters had cut through the last layer of a 4- by 8-foot area.

From The Daily Beast

These words take on a dark layer of irony given the charges facing her.

From The Daily Beast

With each successive layer of networks, the U.S. became more potent.

From The Daily Beast

It separates into three layers upon standing—a brown deposit, a clear fluid, and a frothy layer.

From Project Gutenberg

The upper surfaces of the boilers were covered with a layer of ashes for the same purpose.

From Project Gutenberg

By the repetition of this process, a layer of several feet in thickness, of an excellent soil, is accumulated on the surface.

From Project Gutenberg

He was shot by a man of the 32d, and his body formed the lowermost layer of a causeway of corpses that soon choked the ditch.

From Project Gutenberg

Laura drew out the third drawerjust glancing at the top layer of papersand then the fourth and last.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bed
• blanket
• coat
• floor
• row
• sheet
• slab
• thickness