surface area

noun

: the amount of area covered by the surface of something
The lake has roughly the same surface area as 10 football fields.

Examples of surface area in a Sentence

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The more Austinites have expanded the surface area of lakes — by damming up the Colorado River with various degrees of success from 1893 to 1960 — the more moisture was available to evaporate into the air. Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 4 Jan. 2026 Using a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) cocktail of Streptomyces and Agromyces-Bacillus to improve the metabolizing of nutrients and stimulate plant growth hormones, greenhouse kale and choy sum grew faster in height, leaf surface area, and shoot biomass. New Atlas, 4 Jan. 2026 The former means that more surface area of the whiskey is exposed to wood, and the latter means the maturation process is accelerated as the liquid expands during periods of intense heat into the pores of the barrels. Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 1 Jan. 2026 Combined with its large surface area, this could enable significant heat dissipation, though TechSpot noted that relying solely on passive cooling may limit the system’s realistic heat-handling capacity. Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 30 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for surface area

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Cite this Entry

“Surface area.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surface%20area. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.

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