surface area
Americannoun
-
surface areas
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of surface area
First recorded in 1820–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When a piece of plastic breaks down into microscopically small components, its total surface area goes up exponentially.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
“We’ve been able to cover all the surface area that we used to,” says Haneen Azhar, a senior growth marketing manager at Lindy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Lake Ontario is the smallest by surface area of the five Great Lakes, which straddle the border between the United States and Canada.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Its surface area is roughly comparable to Manhattan Island, giving scientists a rare opportunity to observe how enormous Arctic ice masses develop, move through the ocean and eventually fragment.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Preliminary radar surveys suggested that as much as a quarter to a third of the surface area of Mars might be radar-dark, and therefore dangerous for Viking.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
