Carpet vs Overlay - What's the difference?

In transitive terms the difference between carpet and overlay

is that carpet is to substantially cover something, like a carpet; to blanket something while overlay is to lay, or spread, something over or across; to cover.

As nouns the difference between carpet and overlay

is that carpet is a fabric used as a complete floor covering while overlay is a piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.

As verbs the difference between carpet and overlay

is that carpet is to lay carpet, or to have carpet installed, in an area while overlay is to lay, or spread, something over or across; to cover.

carpet

English

Noun

(en noun) (uncountable and countable)

A fabric used as a complete floor covering.

*:A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet , which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise.}}

(label) Any surface or cover resembling a carpet or fulfilling its function.

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:the grassy carpet of this plain

(label) A wrought cover for tables.

*(Thomas Fuller) (1606-1661)

*:Tables and beds covered with copes instead of carpets and coverlets.

A woman's pubic hair.

Usage notes

The terms carpet and (m) are often used interchangeably, but various distinctions are drawn. Most often, a rug is loose and covers part of a floor, while a carpet covers most or all of the floor (hence typically square), and may be loose or attached, while a fitted carpet runs wall-to-wall. Another distinction is quality: a rug may be coarser, while a carpet is higher quality and has finished ends. Initially carpet referred primarily to table and wall coverings, today called (m) or (m) – the use of the term for floor coverings dates to the 18th century, following trade with Persia.

Derived terms

* carpetbag * carpet beetle * carpet bombing * carpet burn * carpeting * carpet knight * carpet muncher * carpet weed * flying carpet * magic carpet * on the carpet * call on the carpet

External links

* (wikipedia "carpet")

Verb

(en verb)

To lay carpet, or to have carpet installed, in an area.

After the fire, they carpeted over the blackened hardwood flooring.

The builders were carpeting in the living room when Zadie inspected her new house.

To substantially cover something, like a carpet; to blanket something.

Popcorn and candy wrappers carpeted the floor of the cinema.

(UK) To reprimand.

* 1990 , (Peter Hopkirk), The Great Game , Folio Society 2010, p. 428:

Even Colonel Yakov, so recently carpeted by St Petersburg, was reported to be back in the Pamirs.

overlay

English

Verb

To lay, or spread, something over or across; to cover.

* Spenser

as when a cloud his beams doth overlay

* Milton

framed of cedar overlaid with gold

To overwhelm; to press excessively upon.

* Sir Walter Raleigh

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

* Bible, 1 Kings iii. 19

This woman's child died in the night, because she overlaid it.

* Dryden

a heap of ashes that o'erlays your fire

*1993 , (Pat Barker), The Eye in the Door'', Penguin 2014 (''The Regeneration Trilogy ), p. 371:

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

(printing) To put an on.

Noun

(en noun)

(printing) A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.

(betting) Odds which are set higher than expected or warranted. Favorable odds.

(horse racing) A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant, based on its past performances.

A decal attached to a computer keyboard to relabel the keys.

* 1994 , Roger Frost, The IT in Secondary Science Book (page 56)

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.

Anagrams

* English heteronyms