surface

American  

[sur-fis] / ˈsɜr fɪs /

noun

surfaces plural

1. the outer face, outside, or exterior boundary of a thing; outermost or uppermost layer or area.

2. any face of a body or thing.

   the six surfaces of a cube.

3. extent or area of outer face; superficial area.

4. the outward appearance, especially as distinguished from the inner nature.

   to look below the surface of a matter.

5. Geometry. any figure having only two dimensions; part or all of the boundary of a solid.

6. land or sea transportation, rather than air, underground, or undersea transportation.

7. Aeronautics. an airfoil.

---

adjective

1. of, on, or pertaining to the surface; external.

2. apparent rather than real; superficial.

   to be guilty of surface judgments.

3. of, relating to, or via land or sea.

   surface mail.

4. Linguistics. belonging to a late stage in the transformational derivation of a sentence; belonging to the surface structure.

verb (used with object)

surfaces, present (3rd person singular) surfaced, past participle, past surfacing present participle

1. to finish the surface of; give a particular kind of surface to; make even or smooth.

2. to bring to the surface; cause to appear openly.

   Depth charges surfaced the sub. So far we've surfaced no applicants.

verb (used without object)

surfaces, present (3rd person singular) surfaced, past participle, past surfacing present participle

1. to rise to the surface.

   The submarine surfaced after four days.

2. to work on or at the surface.

surface British  

/ ˈsɜːfɪs /

noun

1. 1. the exterior face of an object or one such face

   2. ( as modifier )

      surface gloss

2. 1. the area or size of such a face

   2. ( as modifier )

      surface measurements

3. material resembling such a face, with length and width but without depth

4. 1. the superficial appearance as opposed to the real nature

   2. ( as modifier )

      a surface resemblance

5. geometry

   1. the complete boundary of a solid figure

   2. a continuous two-dimensional configuration

6. 1. the uppermost level of the land or sea

   2. ( as modifier )

      surface transportation

7. to emerge; become apparent

8. to all appearances

---

verb

1. to rise or cause to rise to or as if to the surface (of water, etc)

2. (tr) to treat the surface of, as by polishing, smoothing, etc

3. (tr) to furnish with a surface

4. (intr) mining

   1. to work at or near the ground surface

   2. to wash surface ore deposits

5. (intr) to become apparent; emerge

6. informal (intr)

   1. to wake up

   2. to get up

surface Idioms  

1. see on the surface; scratch the surface.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsurface
  noun
• surfacer
  noun
• surfaceless
  adjective
• unsurfaced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• surfaces
  plural

Participles

• surfacing
  present
• surfaced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• surface
  simple
• surfaces
  simple
• have surfaced
  perfect
• has surfaced
  perfect
• am surfacing
  progressive
• are surfacing
  progressive
• is surfacing
  progressive
• have been surfacing
  perfect progressive
• has been surfacing
  perfect progressive

Past

• surfaced
  simple
• had surfaced
  perfect
• was surfacing
  progressive
• were surfacing
  progressive
• had been surfacing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will surface
  simple
• will have surfaced
  perfect
• will be surfacing
  progressive
• will have been surfacing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of surface

First recorded in 1605–15; from French; equivalent to sur- ¹ + face; apparently modeled on Latin superficies superficies

Explanation

The surface is the outside of anything. The earth, a basketball, and even your body have a surface. A surface is the top layer of something. The surface of the moon is rocky, with a lot of craters, while the surface of the earth has a lot of water. Sandpaper has a rough surface; a balloon has a smooth but rubbery surface. When we use the word surface, it usually means there is a lot of stuff underneath. That applies to our use of surface to mean outward mood, as in "You look happy on the surface, but I know you're angry on the inside."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

surface surfaces surfaced surfacing

On July 1, officials confirmed that the global sea surface temperature in June hit a record for this time of year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

She added: “Maybe you think, oh, she’s not going to serve that well. I think what’s tough on this surface is if she does serve well, she serves big and she serves really good.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

"Pokémon Go will always start with community - we think we're only scratching the surface here," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The simulations revealed that if the surface atoms did not rearrange themselves, oxygen molecules could split apart much more easily and react with the gold.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

But while I wait, the memories of my mom that I try to bury come bubbling to the surface.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

They examined how oxygen molecules interact with two common types of gold surfaces.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

Playing on predictable surfaces has led to a more technical style of football - epitomised by their skipper Odegaard, 27.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Rather than producing the vaccine proteins themselves, they rely on other cells to read the mRNA instructions, manufacture the protein, break it into smaller fragments, and display those fragments on their surfaces.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

FIFA’s natural grass transformation of SoFi Stadium and six other NFL stadiums with artificial surfaces for this summer’s World Cup reignited the debate over grass versus synthetic turf.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

But when Klava tried to tip the plane forward to eject them, the control surfaces were so badly burned that they didn’t react.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

After reports of the incident surfaced in June, Chief Circuit Judge Mary H. Murguia ordered an inquiry into judicial misconduct — a charge that could land Nelson with an official reprimand or other penalty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Nearly three weeks later, audio of an emergency dispatch call to McConnell’s address in Washington, DC surfaced.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

The DUP said it acted swiftly when Donaldson was first charged in 2024 and that its current leadership are deeply concerned by allegations that have surfaced in recent days.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

The risks surfaced this past week in South Korea, a market dominated by highflying semiconductor stocks and rife with investors eager to pile on leverage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

In the deep center a large carp flipped its tail and then disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced.

From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel

Chunks of Trump’s beloved “American flag blue” paint job are surfacing.

From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2026

If the same concern keeps surfacing in different forms, the conversation hasn’t actually happened yet.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

Within hours of the accusations surfacing on Friday, he lost the backing of prominent supporters for his gubernatorial run and many of his staff members resigned.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

The move is aimed at streamlining the pre-dispute process and prevent disputes by surfacing transaction details, improve confidence in dispute resolution outcomes, and unify dispute workflows into a centralized platform.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

“No,” he gasped, surfacing fast to be spilled back into reality like someone beached by the crash of a wave.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• area
• expanse
• exterior
• facade
• face
• façade
• level
• side
• skin
• top