overlie
to lie over or upon, as a covering or stratum.
to smother (an infant) by lying on them, as in sleep.
Origin of overlie
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use overlie in a sentence
There the quantity of barren overlying rock and earth is enormous, and detracts immensely from the value of the mines.
Asbestos | Robert H. JonesTheir geological formation is granite, with gneiss and mica slate, with clay slate, hornblende and primitive limestone overlying.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.
Great Expectations | Charles DickensHer ugly old face flushed through the overlying paint and powder.
A German Pompadour | Marie HayHow does unconformability prove a lapse of time between the accumulation of the underlying and overlying strata?
Geology | James Geikie
British Dictionary definitions for overlie
/ (ˌəʊvəˈlaɪ) /
to lie or rest upon: Compare overlay
to kill (a baby or newborn animal) by lying upon it
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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