[f. prec. sb.]
1. trans. To give a (particular kind of) surface, esp. a smooth or even surface, to; to smooth or polish the surface of; also, to cover the surface of (with something).
1778. [W. Marshall], Minutes Agric., 12 April, 1776. The soil had two plowings, was harrowed, rolled,… and afterward surfaced as level as a table.
1837. Blackw. Mag., XLI. 186. Soft-cushioned and aerated ground, surfaced and inlaid with thinnest mother-of-pearl.
1869. Rankine, Machine & Hand-tools, Pl. H 8. This lathe is … adapted … for surfacing … the general class of work to be met with in engineering establishments.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Marble-scourer, a rubber for surfacing marble slabs.
1897. Outing (U.S.), XXX. 233/1. The track is surfaced with cement.
2. intr. To mine near the surface; to wash the surface deposit or ‘dirt’ for gold or other valuable mineral.
1860. Mrs. Meredith, Over the Straits, iv. 133. I’ve been surfacing this good while; but quartz-reefin’s the payinest game now.
3. trans. To bring or raise to the surface.
1885. Money Market Review, 29 Aug. (Cassell’s Encycl. Dict.). To surface the tinstuff now accumulated.
4. intr. To rise to the surface of the water.
1898. H. Annesley Vachell, in Pall Mall Mag., Nov., 358. He [the fish] surfaced within a few feet of me.
