surface
Americannoun
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the outer face, outside, or exterior boundary of a thing; outermost or uppermost layer or area.
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any face of a body or thing.
the six surfaces of a cube.
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extent or area of outer face; superficial area.
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the outward appearance, especially as distinguished from the inner nature.
to look below the surface of a matter.
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Geometry. any figure having only two dimensions; part or all of the boundary of a solid.
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land or sea transportation, rather than air, underground, or undersea transportation.
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Aeronautics. an airfoil.
adjective
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of, on, or pertaining to the surface; external.
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apparent rather than real; superficial.
to be guilty of surface judgments.
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of, relating to, or via land or sea.
surface mail.
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Linguistics. belonging to a late stage in the transformational derivation of a sentence; belonging to the surface structure.
verb (used with object)
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to finish the surface of; give a particular kind of surface to; make even or smooth.
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to bring to the surface; cause to appear openly.
Depth charges surfaced the sub. So far we've surfaced no applicants.
verb (used without object)
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to rise to the surface.
The submarine surfaced after four days.
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to work on or at the surface.
noun
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the exterior face of an object or one such face
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( as modifier )
surface gloss
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the area or size of such a face
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( as modifier )
surface measurements
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material resembling such a face, with length and width but without depth
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the superficial appearance as opposed to the real nature
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( as modifier )
a surface resemblance
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geometry
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the complete boundary of a solid figure
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a continuous two-dimensional configuration
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the uppermost level of the land or sea
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( as modifier )
surface transportation
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to emerge; become apparent
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to all appearances
verb
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to rise or cause to rise to or as if to the surface (of water, etc)
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(tr) to treat the surface of, as by polishing, smoothing, etc
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(tr) to furnish with a surface
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(intr) mining
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to work at or near the ground surface
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to wash surface ore deposits
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(intr) to become apparent; emerge
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informal (intr)
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to wake up
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to get up
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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surfacesimple
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surfacessimple
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have surfacedperfect
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has surfacedperfect
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am surfacingprogressive
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are surfacingprogressive
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is surfacingprogressive
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have been surfacingperfect progressive
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has been surfacingperfect progressive
Past
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surfacedsimple
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had surfacedperfect
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was surfacingprogressive
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were surfacingprogressive
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had been surfacingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of surface
First recorded in 1605–15; from French; equivalent to sur- 1 + face; apparently modeled on Latin superficies superficies
Explanation
The surface is the outside of anything. The earth, a basketball, and even your body have a surface. A surface is the top layer of something. The surface of the moon is rocky, with a lot of craters, while the surface of the earth has a lot of water. Sandpaper has a rough surface; a balloon has a smooth but rubbery surface. When we use the word surface, it usually means there is a lot of stuff underneath. That applies to our use of surface to mean outward mood, as in "You look happy on the surface, but I know you're angry on the inside."
Vocabulary lists containing surface
Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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"Here, There, and Beyond"
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Their teams are developing instruments that the Venus orbiter will use to examine the planet's surface.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
All the drivers were battling with a Hungaroring track surface that was breaking up, especially in the final two corners, where Norris said it was especially difficult to judge the grip level.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
One patent describes a wafer-holding plate that can detect and adjust surface temperatures to correct flaws caused by old machinery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Underneath the surface of a labor market with strong numbers, people looking for jobs say it’s a grueling process.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Not even two days have passed since we had that, since we had skimmed along the surface and never went deep.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
A selection of ceramic test tiles show how they develop organic “accretions” on the surfaces of the vessels on view here, by building up clay slip through countless coats of uneven applications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
It surfaces occasionally in securities disclosures, including when executives, directors or other big investors in public companies disclose share sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Biofilms are groups of bacteria that attach themselves to surfaces, including the inner walls of water pipes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Brain cells continually pull material from the fluid around them, including nutrients, signaling molecules, and fragments of their own outer surfaces.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
It isn’t fair to tell us your name means blowing the dust off of surfaces when it means born on the road.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Late last night, the park indefinitely delayed its public unveiling, with a spokesperson citing additional fine-tuning that surfaced during its final days of testing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
In the months after, he surfaced only once, in a subdued video address to a Peking University forum in September 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
When the rumors of the relationship publicly surfaced in 2018, Antonoff denied “seeing anyone” and dismissed the chatter as “dumb hetero normative gossip.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Nearly three weeks later, audio of an emergency dispatch call to McConnell’s address in Washington, DC surfaced.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
He surfaced, sputtering, shoulder aching, his arm going numb.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
On social media, people have complained about being filmed without their knowledge, with accounts surfacing of users disabling the white light that signals the glasses are recording.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
This comes as old and new challenges are surfacing.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
Chunks of Trump’s beloved “American flag blue” paint job are surfacing.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2026
The BBC asked four road surfacing experts how long a pothole repair should last.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Nailer sank into the water and kicked silently away, surfacing safely in the shadows.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
