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runoff
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025 sur•face /ˈsɜrfɪs/USA pronunciation
n., adj., v., -faced, -fac•ing. n. [ countable ] the outer face, outside, or exterior boundary of a thing:the surface of the asteroid. any face of a body or thing:the six surfaces of a cube. the outward appearance of something:[ usually singular* often: the + ~] the top part of a liquid or body of water:The submarine rose quietly to the surface. adj. [ before a noun] of, on, or relating to the surface; apparent rather than real; of, relating to, or by land or sea:Send that parcel home by surface mail. v.
to give a particular kind of surface to by covering:[ ~ + object] to rise to the surface:[ no object] to appear or emerge;[ no object] See
-face- .
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025 sur•face
(sûr′ fis),USA pronunciation n., adj., v., -faced, -fac•ing. n.
the outer face, outside, or exterior boundary of a thing; any face of a body or thing:the six surfaces of a cube. extent or area of outer face; the outward appearance, esp. as distinguished from the inner nature:to look below the surface of a matter. Mathematics [ Geom.] land or sea transportation, rather than air, underground, or undersea transportation. Aeronautics an airfoil.adj.
of, on, or pertaining to the surface; apparent rather than real;to be guilty of surface judgments. of, pertaining to, or via land or sea:surface mail. Linguistics belonging to a late stage in the transformational derivation of a sentence;v.t.
to finish the surface of; to bring to the surface;Depth charges surfaced the sub. So far we've surfaced no applicants. v.i.
to rise to the surface:The submarine surfaced after four days. to work on or at the surface. [1605–15;sur- sur -1 + face face, appar. modeled on L superficies superficies ]
sur′ face•less , adj. sur′ fac•er , n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
surface / ˈsɜːfɪs / the exterior face of an object or one such face (as modifier ) : surface gloss the area or size of such a face material resembling such a face, with length and width but without depth the superficial appearance as opposed to the real nature (as modifier ) : a surface resemblance the complete boundary of a solid figure a continuous two-dimensional configuration the uppermost level of the land or sea (as modifier ) : surface transportation come to the surface ⇒ to emerge; become apparent on the surface ⇒ to all appearances to rise or cause to rise to or as if to the surface (of water, etc) (transitive ) to treat the surface of, as by polishing, smoothing, etc (transitive ) to furnish with a surface (intransitive ) to become apparent; emerge (intransitive ) to wake up to get up Etymology: 17th Century: from French, from sur on + face face , probably on the model of Latin superficies ˈsurfacer