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 Word Forms

• layerable adjective
• interlayer verb (used with object)
• nonlayered 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

As this ancient magma ocean cooled, many scientists expected the mantle to have developed distinct chemical layers, similar to how frozen juice separates into sugary concentrate and watery ice.

Read more on Science Daily

She wears layers of clothes and a bandana around her face to protect herself from chemicals on the plants that she says burned her nostrils as she breathed.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Democrats believe layering on more government rules, regulations and red tape will make healthcare cheaper.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They form when waterlogged soils accumulate layers of dead vegetation over thousands of years.

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"But IgG antibodies never cross the cell layers and they can never make it inside the cysts."

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

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