1
as in to coat
to form a layer over
you should apply a coat of primer first, and then overlay it with two coats of paint
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to overlap
to lie over parts of one another
cedar shingles overlaying one another on the roof
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overlay
Drop feels even more claustrophobic when Landon overlays Violet’s messages onto the screen.
—
Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025
Color filters overlay the instrument's detector array to separate light entering the telescope into its component wavelengths, a process known as spectroscopy.
—Ars Technica, 13 Mar. 2025
Garments that didn’t rely on magnificent silhouettes were instead detailed in ornate beading, lined with feathers or overlaid with layers of lace.
—Elizabeth Grace Coyne, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
The computer system reads photographs of clay cuneiform tablets, then adjusts by computationally overlaying the images atop ones with similar features, and whose meaning is known.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overlay
Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025
Color filters overlay the instrument's detector array to separate light entering the telescope into its component wavelengths, a process known as spectroscopy.
—Ars Technica, 13 Mar. 2025
Garments that didn’t rely on magnificent silhouettes were instead detailed in ornate beading, lined with feathers or overlaid with layers of lace.
—Elizabeth Grace Coyne, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
The computer system reads photographs of clay cuneiform tablets, then adjusts by computationally overlaying the images atop ones with similar features, and whose meaning is known.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overlay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overlay
Verb
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How to Preserve Flowers with Beeswax The hack itself is simple—just melt some beeswax into a bowl or jar, grab a single flower of your choice, and dip it straight in until it's fully coated.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Apr. 2025
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Not to mention, it’s also constructed with durable stoneware and coated in a nonporous enamel glaze that is stain- and scratch-resistant, too.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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With a kind of theater vérité, Cromer fills the monochromatic bunker of a set with a large — the cast numbers 21 — and mostly male ensemble, all bustling about with myriad tasks amid overlapping dialogue and banter.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
4 Apr. 2025
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While most people associate the onset of dementia in the elderly with Alzheimer's, there are a number of distinct dementia diagnoses, often with risk factors and underlying biology that only partly overlap.—
John Timmer,
ArsTechnica,
3 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The Commerce Department data for February covers a period that largely precedes Trump's tariffs, though the reading arrives amid a bout of accelerating inflation that stretches back to the final months of the Biden administration.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
28 Mar. 2025
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Bailey Berg is a freelance travel writer and editor, who covers breaking news, trends, tips, transportation, sustainability, the outdoors, and more.—
Bailey Berg,
AFAR Media,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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But Maduro’s numbers have been widely discredited by both domestic and international observers, based on both polling prior to the election and tally sheets the opposition was able to recover from voting machines before Maduro’s forces shut down the count.—
Rafael Bernal,
The Hill,
9 Jan. 2025
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Failure to confront and anticipate social and environmental issues and their consequences is being sheeted back to boards and executives.—
The Sorenson Impact Institute,
Forbes,
21 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Overlay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overlay. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
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