Pronunciation
Verb- RP enPR: Å'vÉ™-lÄʹ, IPA: /ˌəʊ.vəˈleɪ/
- GenAm enPR: Å'vÉ™r-lÄʹ, IPA: /ËŒoÊŠvɚˈleɪ/
Noun- RP enPR: ÅʹvÉ™-lÄ', IPA: /ˈəʊ.vəˌleɪ/
- GenAm enPR: ÅʹvÉ™r-lÄ', IPA: /ˈoÊŠvɚˌleɪ/
- Rhymes: -eɪ
Full definition of overlay
Verb
- (transitive) To lay, or spread, something over or across; to cover.
- Spenseras when a cloud his beams doth overlay
- Miltonframed of cedar overlaid with gold
- To overwhelm; to press excessively upon.
- Sir Walter Raleighwhen any country is overlaid by the multitude which live upon it
- (transitive, now rare, archaic) To lie over (someone, especially a child) in order to smother it; to suffocate. from 14th c.
- Bible, 1 Kings iii. 19This woman's child died in the night, because she overlaid it.
- Drydena heap of ashes that o'erlays your fire
- 1993, Pat Barker, The Eye in the Door, Penguin 2014 (The Regeneration Trilogy), p. 371:Prostitutes, thieves, girls who ‘overlaid’ their babies, abortionists who stuck their knitting needles into something vital – did they really need to be here?
- (transitive, printing) To put an overlay on.
Noun
- (printing) A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
- (betting) Odds which are set higher than expected or warranted. Favorable odds.
- (horse racing) A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant, based on its past performances.
- A decal attached to a computer keyboard to relabel the keys.
- 1994, Roger Frost, The IT in Secondary Science Book (page 56)The keyboard overlay can be a memory jogger and a great help with spelling. In this way the keyboard makes word processing more accessible to younger as well as special needs children.
