Library / English Dictionary

LAYER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: layer   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Thin structure composed of a single thickness of cells

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("layer" is a kind of...):

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "layer"):

blastoderm; blastodisc; germinal area; germinal disc (a layer of cells on the inside of the blastula)

hypodermis (layer of cells that secretes the chitinous cuticle in e.g. arthropods)

Derivation:

layer (make or form a layer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A hen that lays eggs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("layer" is a kind of...):

biddy; hen (adult female chicken)

Derivation:

lay (lay eggs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance

Example:

slices of hard-boiled egg on a bed of spinach

Synonyms:

bed; layer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("layer" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "layer"):

wall (a layer of material that encloses space)

tier (one of two or more layers one atop another)

ply ((usually in combinations) one of several layers of cloth or paper or wood as in plywood)

overlay (a layer of decorative material (such as gold leaf or wood veneer) applied over a surface)

lift (one of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot)

interlayer (a layer placed between other layers)

cushion (the layer of air that supports a hovercraft or similar vehicle)

course; row ((construction) a layer of masonry)

blanket (a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor)

backing; mount (something forming a back that is added for strengthening)

Holonyms ("layer" is a part of...):

laminate (a sheet of material made by bonding two or more sheets or layers)

Derivation:

layer (make or form a layer)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An abstract place usually conceived as having depth

Example:

the mind functions on many strata simultaneously

Synonyms:

layer; level; stratum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("layer" is a kind of...):

place (an abstract mental location)

Derivation:

layer (make or form a layer)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A relatively thin sheetlike expanse or region lying over or under another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("layer" is a kind of...):

part; region (the extended spatial location of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "layer"):

snow (a layer of snowflakes (white crystals of frozen water) covering the ground)

cell wall (a rigid layer of polysaccharides enclosing the membrane of plant and prokaryotic cells; maintains the shape of the cell and serves as a protective barrier)

upper mantle (the upper part of the mantle)

troposphere (the lowest atmospheric layer; from 4 to 11 miles high (depending on latitude))

tropopause (the region of discontinuity between the troposphere and the stratosphere)

thermosphere (the atmospheric layer between the mesosphere and the exosphere)

Earth's surface; surface (the outermost level of the land or sea)

stratosphere (the atmospheric layer between the troposphere and the mesosphere)

ozone layer; ozonosphere (a layer in the stratosphere (at approximately 20 miles) that contains a concentration of ozone sufficient to block most ultraviolet radiation from the sun)

mesosphere (the atmospheric layer between the stratosphere and the thermosphere)

mantle (the layer of the earth between the crust and the core)

lower mantle (the deeper part of the mantle)

geosphere; lithosphere (the solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle)

hydrosphere (the watery layer of the earth's surface; includes water vapor)

exosphere (the outermost atmospheric layer)

crust; Earth's crust (the outer layer of the Earth)

chromosphere (a gaseous layer of the sun's atmosphere (extending from the photosphere to the corona) that is visible during a total eclipse of the sun)

asthenosphere (the lower layer of the crust)

stratum (one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock))

Derivation:

layer (make or form a layer)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make or form a layer

Example:

layer the different colored sands

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "layer" is one way to...):

forge; form; mold; mould; shape; work (make something, usually for a specific function)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

layer (thin structure composed of a single thickness of cells)

layer (single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance)

layer (an abstract place usually conceived as having depth)

layer (a relatively thin sheetlike expanse or region lying over or under another)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A very thin layer of tissue that covers a surface.

(Membrane, NCI Dictionary)

Inflammation of the meninges (three thin layers of tissue that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord).

(Meningitis, NCI Dictionary)

The middle layer of the fruit wall that develops from the mature ovary wall.

(Mesocarp, Food and Drug Administration)

The middle one third of the esophagus in which the muscle layer is composed of muscle cells of the striated and smooth types.

(Middle Third of the Esophagus, NCI Thesaurus)

Individual layers of cancer tissue are removed and examined under a microscope one at a time until all cancer tissue has been removed.

(Mohs micrographic surgery, NCI Dictionary)

A type of slow-growing tumor that forms in the meninges (thin layers of tissue that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord).

(Meningioma, NCI Dictionary)

The three thin layers of tissue that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord.

(Meninges, NCI Dictionary)

A thin sheet or layer of pliable tissue, serving as a covering or envelope of a part, as the lining of a cavity, as a partition or septum, or to connect two structures.

(Membrane, NCI Thesaurus)

Having to do with the meninges (three thin layers of tissue that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord).

(Meningeal, NCI Dictionary)

In meningeal leukemia, cancer cells have spread from the original (primary) tumor to the meninges (thin layers of tissue that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord).

(Meningeal leukemia, NCI Dictionary)