on the surface
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Millipedes were feeding on decaying mosses, decomposed slime, and primordial gunk on the surface of the Earth."
From Science Daily • Jun. 14, 2026
These pictures were ideally suited to Los Angeles: High-sheen, colorful, fully embracing joy—there was little not to like about them on the surface.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Thus, on the surface, the lyrics of “Y.M.C.A.” seem to promote the Young Men’s Christian Association and their new single-room occupancy units of the time.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
Each vaccine aims to train the body to spot the same structure on the surface of the virus – known as the Bundibugyo glycoprotein.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026
No big bluefin up on the surface, that’s for sure.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
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.
