Layer Covered Thin Thick Extra Noun ˈleɪə(R Leə(R

• a thin layer of dust covered everything.
• ducks have a thick layer of fat to keep them warm.
• how many layers of clothing are you wearing?
• sunlight thickens the outer layer of the skin.

layer

1. a quantity or sheet of something that lies over a surface or between surfaces
• A thin layer of dust covered everything.
• Ducks have a thick layer of fat to keep them warm.
• How many layers of clothing are you wearing?
• Sunlight thickens the outer layer of the skin.
• The paint is applied in layers.

Extra Examples

• Beneath the surface layer of the skin are several further layers.
• Everything was covered with a fine layer of dust.
• He paints a base coat, allows it to dry, and then adds layers of paint.
• Mulch with a generous layer of peat or compost.
• The body had been covered with a thin layer of soil.
• The building is constructed in layers.
• The product is made from a single layer of plastic.
• The recipe calls for alternating layers of meat sauce and pasta.
• The remains lay buried under layer upon layer of black earth.
• They put on thick hats and extra layers of clothing.
• Use enough gravel to form a layer about 50mm thick.
• We're flying just below a cloud layer at 33 000 feet.
• a protective layer of black plastic
• the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere
• Brush each layer of filo pastry with melted butter.
• The channel became silted up with layer upon layer of sludge.
• The dessert is chocolate mousse between layers of coffee and chocolate sponge.
• This provides the waterproof top layer of the roof.
2. a level or part within a system or set of ideas
• There were too many layers of management in the company.
• the layers of meaning in the poem
• You've got to fight your way through layer upon layer of bureaucracy.
• It was claimed that the reforms would add layers to the EU's political structure.

Extra Examples

• I decided to peel back the layers of this story.
• a layer of bureaucracy
• multiple layers of meaning

Word Origin

• Middle English (denoting a mason): from lay (verb) + -er. The sense ‘stratum of material covering a surface’ (early 17th cent.) may represent a different spelling of an obsolete agricultural use of lair denoting quality of soil.