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Overlay vs Merge - What's the difference?

overlay | merge |

In transitive terms the difference between overlay and merge

is that overlay is to lay, or spread, something over or across; to cover while merge is to combine into a whole.

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

    merge

    English

    Verb

    (merg)
  • To combine into a whole.
  • Headquarters merged the operations of the three divisions.
  • * Burke
  • to merge all natural sentiment in inordinate vanity
  • * De Quincey
  • Whig and Tory were merged and swallowed up in the transcendent duties of patriots.
  • To combine into a whole.
  • The two companies merged .
  • To blend gradually into something else.
  • The lanes of traffic ''merged''.
    (sort synonyms by senses)

    Derived terms

    * merger * mergeable * mergeability

    Synonyms

    * amalgamate * combine * conflate * fuse * integrate * unite

    Antonyms

    * divide * split

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A joining together of two flows.
  • There are often accidents at that traffic merge .

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----