n. [ F. See Sur-, and Face, and cf. Superficial. ]
The bright surface of this ethereous mold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
Vain and weak understandings, which penetrate no deeper than the surface. V. Knox. [ 1913 Webster ]
Caustic surface,
Heating surface
Surface condensation,
Surface condenser
Surface gauge (Mach.),
Surface grub (Zool.),
Surface plate (Mach.),
Surface printing,
v. t.
v. i.
. (Aeronautics) The weight supported per square unit of surface; the quotient obtained by dividing the gross weight, in pounds, of a fully loaded flying machine, by the total area, in square feet, of its supporting surface. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. A form of machine for dressing the surface of wood, metal, stone, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]
. (Physics) That property, due to molecular forces, which exists in the surface film of all liquids and tends to bring the contained volume into a form having the least superficial area. The thickness of this film, amounting to less than a thousandth of a millimeter, is considered to equal the radius of the sphere of molecular action, that is, the greatest distance at which there is cohesion between two particles. Particles lying below this film, being equally acted on from all sides, are in equilibrium as to forces of cohesion, but those in the film are on the whole attracted inward, and tension results. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]