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• sur
  sur

  preposition

  upon; on the basis of.
• Sur
  Sur

  noun

  a town in S Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea: site of ancient port of Tyre.
• sur-
  sur-

  a prefix meaning “over, above,” “in addition,” occurring mainly in loanwords from French and partial calques of French words.

sur

¹ American  

[sur] / sɜr /

preposition

Law.

1. upon; on the basis of.

   sur mortgage.

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Sur ² American  

[soor] / sʊər /

noun

1. a town in S Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea: site of ancient port of Tyre.

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sur- ³ American  

1. a prefix meaning “over, above,” “in addition,” occurring mainly in loanwords from French and partial calques of French words.

   surcharge; surname; surrender; survive.

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sur- ⁴ American  

1. variant of sub- before r: surrogate.

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Sur ¹ British  

/ sʊə /

noun

1. transliteration of the Arabic name for Tyre

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sur- ² British  

prefix

1. over; above; beyond Compare super-

   surcharge

   surrealism

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sur- ³ British  

prefix

1. a variant of sub-

   surrogate

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Etymology

Origin of sur¹

< French < Latin super super-

Origin of sur-³

Middle English < Old French < Latin super- super-

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sur Sur sur-

Magda, the manager, helps me with a goat cheese, Mothais sur Feuille, wrapped in a fig leaf.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025

These will be international commemorations and Prince William will go to a ceremony at Omaha Beach, Saint Laurent sur Mer, which is expected to be attended by 25 heads of state.

From BBC ● May 17, 2024

Vin sur Vingt, a group of French wine bars in New York with a branch in Washington, D.C., has added an Upper West Side wine shop.

From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2022

Le gros choc de Garnet Hathaway sur Connor McDavid qui n’a pas vraiment plu à Evander Kane !

From Washington Times ● Feb. 3, 2022

“Oi I think we can get yon ’edgepig back, sur.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

The NHC said "life-threatening winds and flash floods" were expected across Mexico's Baja California Sur and Sonora states on Monday and Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

The regional government of Baja California Sur has ordered schools to remain closed on Monday as a preventive measure.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Only a handful of homes and businesses in Puerto San Carlos, which is in Baja California Sur, had wooden boards up to protect doors and windows on Sunday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

One of two destructive wildfires burning near Big Sur in Monterey County has nearly doubled in size over the last two days.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Mario Campos Gutierrez, supervisor of Grupo Beta Sur, estimates that half eventually get here—after repeated attempts.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

My physical, emotional, and spiritual beings were completely blending with the sur- roundings.

From Salon ● Nov. 19, 2021

Those  actors were paralyz- ingly dependent on aluminum, sugar,  coffee,  and  jet fuel for sur- vival, but were, almost  without  exception, unable to keep  up with the  commodity traders at banks  and  hedge funds.

From MSNBC ● Jun. 4, 2014

Prison doctors stated that his sur- vival was doubtful.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Ways & Means Committee of the House, which normally would be busy drafting such plans, has practically sur- rendered the job to the Treasury.

From Time Magazine Archive

Papas can react very badly to sur- prisements, this I have seen, like when Signora Divino’s husband was a papa and his son said, “Papa, the car went into the lake.”

From "The Unfinished Angel" by Sharon Creech