- [countable] the outside or top layer of something
- We need a flat, smooth surface to play the game on.
- an uneven road surface
- a broad leaf with a large surface area
- Surface water (= rainwater that has collected on the surface of a road) made driving conditions hazardous.
- Teeth have a hard surface layer called enamel.
Extra ExamplesTopics Colours and Shapesb1, Transport by car or lorryb1- Smooth the surface with a spatula.
- the inner surface of a bone
- the surface layer of the skin
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- even
- flat
- level
- …
- come to
- come up to
- reach
- …
- area
- level
- layer
- …
- above the surface
- on a/the surface
- over the surface
- …
- the Earth’s surface
- the surface of the Earth
- [countable, usually singular] the top layer of an area of water or land
- the earth's surface
- on the surface (of something) These plants float on the surface of the water.
- below/beneath/under the surface (of something) We could see fish swimming just below the surface.
- Alligators lurk beneath the surface of the swamp.
- The earth’s surface temperature is rising.
Extra Examples- Cracks began to appear in the surface of the earth.
- The ball rolled onto the frozen surface of the pond.
- The captain brought the submarine to the surface.
- The ring slowly sank beneath the surface of the mud pool.
- The wind rippled the surface of the lake.
- Visible light from the sun passes through the atmosphere to the Earth's surface.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- even
- flat
- level
- …
- come to
- come up to
- reach
- …
- area
- level
- layer
- …
- above the surface
- on a/the surface
- over the surface
- …
- the Earth’s surface
- the surface of the Earth
- [countable] the flat upper part of a piece of furniture, that is used for working on
- She's cleaned all the kitchen surfaces.
- You'll need a large smooth surface for rolling out the pastry.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- even
- flat
- level
- …
- come to
- come up to
- reach
- …
- area
- level
- layer
- …
- above the surface
- on a/the surface
- over the surface
- …
- the Earth’s surface
- the surface of the Earth
- [singular] the outer appearance of a person, thing or situation; the qualities that you see or notice, that are not hidden
- below/beneath/under the surface (of something) Rage bubbled just below the surface of his mind.
- She gives the impression of being rather conventional, but under the surface she is wildly eccentric.
Word Originearly 17th cent.: from French (from sur- and face), suggested by Latin superficies.
Idioms
See surface in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee surface in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishon the surface
- when not thought about deeply or carefully and completely; when not looked at carefully
- It seems like a good idea on the surface but there are sure to be problems.
- On the surface, he appeared unchanged.
- On the surface his words were funny, but I detected a lot of anger behind them.
scratch the surface (of something)
- to deal with, understand, or find out about only a small part of a subject or problem
- We left feeling that we had just scratched the surface of this fascinating country.
- The investigation barely scratched the surface of the city's drug problem.
Check pronunciation:
surface