overlay

verb

1. (transitive)To lay, spread, or apply (something) over or across (something else); to overspread.

   “Near-synonyms: cover, superimpose, superpose”

   “She will now overlay the crust with fruit.”

   “She will now overlay fruit on top of the crust.”

   “For ſo exceeding ſhone his gliſtring ray, That Phœbus golden face it did attaint, As when a cloud his beames doth ouer-lay”

   “By his preſcript a Sanctuary is fram'd Of Cedar, overlaid with Gold,”

2. To overwhelm; to press excessively upon.

   “when any country is overlaid by the multitude which live upon it”

3. (archaic, transitive)To lie over (someone, especially a child) in order to smother it; to suffocate.

   “And this womans childe died in the night: because she ouerlaid it.”

   “a heap of ashes that o'erlays your fire”

   “Prostitutes, thieves, girls who ‘overlaid’ their babies, abortionists who stuck their knitting needles into something vital – did they really need to be here?”

4. (transitive)To put an overlay on.
5. (transitive)To bet too much money on.

   “[…] he has 'overlaid' his book, and has not succeeded in 'getting round' by bets against the other horses.”

6. (form-of, past)simple past of overlie

noun

1. An image to be overlaid on another; a superimposition or diapositive.
2. A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
3. Odds which are set higher than expected or warranted. Favorable odds.
4. A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant, based on its past performances.
5. A decal attached to a computer keyboard to relabel the keys.

   “The keyboard overlay can be a memory jogger and a great help with spelling. In this way the keyboard makes word processing more accessible to younger as well as special needs children.”

6. A block of program code that is loaded over something previously loaded, so as to replace the functionality.

   “This concept can be extended further by allowing a primary overlay to call a secondary overlay, and so on. However, we will limit ourselves here to the use of primary overlays. Before proceeding further, you need to understand the memory map of the computer, which is a diagram showing the use to which the memory of the computer is put.”

7. (Internet)A pop-up covering an existing part of the display.
8. (Scotland)A cravat.
9. A covering over something else.

   “The first, on January 1, 1883, was attributed to the overlay becoming surcharged with water, due to insufficient drainage, and causing a slip.”

   “I really appreciate the clear explication of Dworkin's understanding of male sexuality. In this we see, without the overlay of polemic that infuses her non-fiction, how Dworkin can proceed from basic feminist principles to create an almost seamless, sophistic argument for sexism.”