surfaced

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of surface.

   The diver surfaced slowly to avoid getting sick.

   Several complaints surfaced after the staff meeting ended.

   Note

   One spelling serves as both the past tense and the participle, and the verb behind it runs in two directions. Intransitively, something rises or comes to light by itself: the diver surfaced, complaints surfaced. Transitively, someone acts on a thing: the lane was surfaced with tarmac, the audit surfaced old errors. Only the transitive uses form a passive, and a freshly surfaced lane edges toward the adjective "having a surface".

2. 2
   adjectivein compounds

   Having an outer surface of a particular kind, usually described by a preceding word.

   Engineers tested several rough-surfaced panels for grip in wet weather.

   The hard-surfaced playground stayed usable through the rainy season.

   Note

   The word does most of its work as the back half of compounds such as rough-surfaced, hard-surfaced and smooth-surfaced, which are hyphenated before a noun. Standing alone, it sorts routes into two kinds. Chris Howe, writing in RAIL in 2024, counts "surfaced and unsurfaced walking routes." It is an either-or word, so it does not take more or very. Any sense of degree goes into the word in front instead.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2