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underlay

verb, noun — 9 senses

underlay

verb

/ʌndəɹˈleɪ/

Etymology From Middle English underleyen, from Old English underleċġan (“to underlay, prop, support”), equivalent to under- + lay. Cognate with Dutch onderleggen (“to lay or put under”), German unterlegen (“to underlay”), Swedish underlägga (“to underlay”).

1

To lay (something) underneath something else; to put under.

2

To provide a support for something; to raise or support by something laid under.

  • to underlay a cut, plate, or the like, for printing
3

To put a tap on (a shoe).

4

Business, Mining Ambitransitive, Of a vein To incline from the vertical.

Derived terms
underlayment

underlay

noun

/ˈʌndəɹˌleɪ/

Etymology From Middle English underlay, underlei, equivalent to under- + lay.

1

A layer (of earth, etc.) that lies under another; substratum.

2

A soft floor covering that lies under a carpet.

3

Anything that is underlaid.

4

Media, Printing, Publishing Historical A piece of paper pasted under woodcuts, stereotype plates, etc. in a form, to bring them up to the necessary level for printing.

5

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Lyrics; or more specifically, the way in which lyrics are assigned to musical notes.

  • The underlay in bar 3 is unclear in Handel's manuscript.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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