Link Centre Dictionary

Also Inflected form of underlie

underlay

un·der·lay

UK/ˈʌndəɹˌleɪ/ uncommon
noun (1) verb (3)

noun

1.

verb

1.

raise or support (the level of printing) by inserting a piece of paper or cardboard under the type

  • “underlay the plate”
2.

put (something) under or beneath

  • “They underlaid athe shingles with roofing paper”
3.

provide with a base, support, lining, or backing

  • “underlay the boards with joists”

Origin

From Middle English underleyen, from Old English underleċġan (“to underlay, prop, support”), equivalent to under- + lay. Cognate with Dutch onderleggen (“to lay or put under”), German unterlegen (“to underlay”), Swedish underlägga (“to underlay”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.