Definition of "underlay" in English

verb

1. simple past of underlie

verb

1. (transitive) To lay (something) underneath something else; to put under.

2. (transitive) To provide a support for something; to raise or support by something laid under.

   • to underlay a cut, plate, or the like, for printing

3. (transitive) To put a tap on (a shoe).

4. (mining, ambitransitive, of a vein, fault, or lode) To incline from the vertical.

noun

1. A layer (of earth, etc.) that lies under another; substratum.

2. A soft floor covering that lies under a carpet.

3. Anything that is underlaid.

4. (printing, historical) A piece of paper pasted under woodcuts, stereotype plates, etc. in a form, to bring them up to the necessary level for printing.

5. (music) Lyrics; or more specifically, the way in which lyrics are assigned to musical notes.

   • The underlay in bar 3 is unclear in Handel's manuscript.