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

Under the surface, nearly 40% of the index’s stocks are down at least 20% from their 52-week highs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

When their matriarch convinces the family to embark on a bucket-list road trip around the island, old family secrets surface as the 2019 protests following Hurricane Maria unfold around them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Lacking fingers with flexible joints, the robot’s grippers had difficulty getting traction on the smooth surface of the glass.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The raised ridges of the brain's folded surface, known as gyri, had lost most of their amyloid plaques and contained very little accumulated tau.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026

Her anger is the simmering kind that bubbles beneath the surface until it finally boils over and she slams a door in your face.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

“When they book their appointment, when they commerce with us on David’s Bridal dot-com, when they go through our surfaces, they’re sharing a lot of information that is unique to them.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

And by the time the symptom surfaces, the damage is often irreversible.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Wales and Bristol star Louis Rees-Zammit has called for an end to artificial playing surfaces in top-flight rugby.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Traditionally, researchers have concentrated on choosing the right starting materials, catalysts, electrode surfaces, voltages, and solution compositions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Special tactile feedback pads covered both palms, allowing the gloves to create the illusion that I was touching objects and surfaces that didn’t actually exist.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Hilton points out, correctly, it was a New York Times investigation that surfaced the controversy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Several Crosby-Nash-backed tracks have surfaced over the years, including “Long May You Run,” “Black Coral,” “Ocean Girl” and “Midnight on the Bay.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

That idea — that a chef’s point of view comes from the entirety of a life, rather than one neatly defined culinary tradition — surfaced again during a panel about travel and where chefs eat.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

Yet diesel’s rise hasn’t fully surfaced in grocery-store aisles — so far at least.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

It was after midnight when the gray U-boat surfaced off the coast of Amagansett, Long Island.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Children can, at times, sense their parents’ trauma surfacing in seemingly unrelated interactions, when Mom loses her temper or Dad goes silent.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

The BBC asked four road surfacing experts how long a pothole repair should last.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

Internal complaints—about anything from bullying and policy violations to performance issues and workplace violence—are surfacing with increasing frequency, data suggest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Part of the issue was that old acquaintances and distant relatives were surfacing from nowhere and with a flood of inquiries.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---