layered

1. 1
   adjective

   Consisting of two or more distinct layers arranged one over another.

   Like an onion, with one layer wrapped around the next.

   The geologist examined the layered rock formation along the cliff face.

   Their layered defense relies on several independent safeguards working together.

   Similarstratified, tiered, laminated

   Note

   A participle that has settled into a true adjective, and its comparison forms show it: more layered, most layered. Being gradable suits its figurative side, where a defense or an argument can be more layered than another. After was or had, ask whether the word describes how something is built or reports something done to it. Only the first is this adjective. The second is the past tense of layer.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of layer.

   The chef layered the pasta with sauce and cheese before baking it.

   Snow had layered the rooftops by the time we woke up.

   Note

   The verb behind this form works in two directions: dividing something into layers, or building it up out of them. It can take an object or stand without one, so the chef layered the pasta and the pasta layered neatly are both possible. One spelling covers the simple past and, after have or was, the perfect and the passive.

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