1
as in to coat
to form a layer over
you should apply a coat of primer first, and then overlay it with two coats of paint
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to overlap
to lie over parts of one another
cedar shingles overlaying one another on the roof
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overlay
The veil of past and present, for example, takes an abstract turn in Altar I, while Todos los santos (Para subir al Cielo) shows a cemetery with various cross-shaped tombstones, with a ladder leaning on a wall spectrally overlaid on the image.
—
Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
With a white leather upper, Fire Red Jumpman branding and accents and the sneaker’s iconic gray elephant print overlays, the White Cement Air Jordan 3 is widely praised as one of the top pairs in athletic footwear history.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 20 May 2026
And Maid of Honour has a photo of Drake’s mother overlaid with a photo of Drake smiling with his son, Adonis.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 15 May 2026
For that, organizers turn to the same technology used when Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya broke the two-hour-marathon barrier in 2019, overlaying data onto potential routes to find the optimal one.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for overlay
Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
With a white leather upper, Fire Red Jumpman branding and accents and the sneaker’s iconic gray elephant print overlays, the White Cement Air Jordan 3 is widely praised as one of the top pairs in athletic footwear history.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 20 May 2026
And Maid of Honour has a photo of Drake’s mother overlaid with a photo of Drake smiling with his son, Adonis.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 15 May 2026
For that, organizers turn to the same technology used when Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya broke the two-hour-marathon barrier in 2019, overlaying data onto potential routes to find the optimal one.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for overlay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overlay
Verb
-
Thoroughly coat the inside of the bucket with baby powder.—
Olivia McIntosh,
Martha Stewart,
17 June 2026
-
Simply coat your protein an hour or two before cooking to yield tender, juicy bites.—
Joey Skladany,
Southern Living,
17 June 2026
Verb
-
Symptoms overlap heavily with anxiety, depression and thyroid disorders, and there is no blood test that definitively confirms perimenopause, making clinical identification difficult even when women raise it themselves.—
Allison Palmer
Updated June 13,
Sacbee.com,
13 June 2026
-
Most organizations operate across hybrid and multicloud environments with overlapping systems and only partial integration, making unified operations difficult to achieve.—
Scott Fulton,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Lynch organized the GoFundMe campaign on Monday to cover immediate expenses and create college funds for the couple’s son and daughter.—
Reeti Malhotra,
Sacbee.com,
18 June 2026
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The additional killing of Vergata is covered by Heuermann's plea agreement, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
Verb
-
Both Bestor and architect Tim Barber, who counts Matt Duffer and Ramin Djawadi as clients, employ Densdeck Roof Boards and Densinglas sheeting, a fiberglass-matt gypsum panel considered sustainable because of its durability and recycled content, in their work.—
Abigail Stone,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Reroll the dough sheets away from you into cylinders and loosely pinch them closed.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overlay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overlay. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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