overlay
/ˌoʊvɚˈleɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To lay, spread, or apply (something) over or across (something else); to overspread.
Transitive verb
verb
To overwhelm; to press excessively upon.
verb
To lie over (someone, especially a child) in order to smother it; to suffocate.
Archaic; Transitive verb
noun
An image to be overlaid on another; a superimposition or diapositive.
noun
A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: cover, superimpose, superpose"
- "She will now overlay the crust with fruit."
- "She will now overlay fruit on top of the crust."
- "For ſo exceeding ſhone his gliſtring ray, That Phœbus golden face it did attaint, As when a cloud his beames doth ouer-lay"
- "By his preſcript a Sanctuary is fram'd Of Cedar, overlaid with Gold,"
- "The hillside at this point is composed of shaly rock overlaid with a peaty loam which carries a growth of heather, and its unstable condition has resulted in two landslides in the course of the railway's history."
Etymology
From Middle English overleyen, from Old English oferleċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *obarlaggjan, from Proto-Germanic *uberlagjaną, equivalent to over- + lay. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurläze, úurlääse, Dutch overleggen, German Low German overleggen, överleggen, German überlegen, Swedish överlägga, Norwegian overlegge. Compare overlie.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌoʊvɚˈleɪ/
- British English: /ˌəʊ.vəˈleɪ/