What does "overlay" mean?
Overlay: To smother with a close covering, or by lying upon. This woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 1 Kings iii.
Additional senses
- 2.A heap of ashes that o'erlays your fire. Dryden.
- 3.(Printing) To put an overlay on.
- 4.A covering. Sir W. Scott.
- 5.(Printing) A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00