layer

American  

[ley-er] / ˈleɪ ər /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

1. to form or make a layer of (something)

2. to take root or cause to take root by layering

Other Word Forms

• interlayer noun
• layerable adjective
• nonlayered adjective

Etymology

Origin of layer

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

Example Sentences

To accomplish this, the researchers worked with a carefully engineered material made of two atomically thin layers of the organic semiconductor molybdenum ditelluride.

From Science Daily

The word — in big white letters, set against layers of blue — appears toward the top of the mural, on the store’s brick wall facing Lake.

From Los Angeles Times

“Advances in submarines, sensors, seabed systems, and unmanned vehicles will create layered defenses that raise the cost—and in some scenarios the feasibility—of U.S. operations in the western Pacific,” Brookes said.

From The Wall Street Journal

By analyzing ancient sediment layers from lakes on K'gari, located off Queensland's south eastern coast, scientists uncovered signs of a major drying period about 7,500 years ago during the middle Holocene.

From Science Daily

Although rock layers from that time period are found across North America, fossils of this species had previously been limited to Montana and parts of southwestern Canada.

From Science Daily

Related Words

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