surfaces

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of surface.

   Engineers tested how the coating bonded to several metal surfaces.

   Frost formed overnight on the exposed surfaces near the lake.

   Note

   A plural that reaches across the noun's senses: the tops of tables and liquids, the outer hulls of objects, the loci a mathematician derives from equations, and even the stories suggested by cryptic clues read at face value. The same spelling also serves the present-tense verb, so the sentence decides which you have: the surfaces of the lake are things, while a diver who surfaces is doing something.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of surface.

   The submarine surfaces only after the captain confirms the area is clear.

   Tension between the two departments surfaces during every budget meeting.

   Note

   Whether an object follows changes what is meant. Without one, something rises or comes to light: a whale surfaces, an old rumor surfaces. With one, someone brings a thing up or makes it known (a review surfaces the errors), or, more literally, gives something a new surface, as when a crew surfaces a road. Check for an object before you settle on the meaning.

   Each new search surfaces documents the team had forgotten about.

   The county surfaces the old road with fresh asphalt every few years.

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