layer

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun One that lays.
• noun A hen kept for laying eggs.
• noun A single thickness of a material covering a surface or forming an overlying part or segment.
• noun A usually horizontal deposit or expanse; a stratum.
• noun A depth or level.
• noun Botany A stem that is covered with soil for rooting while still part of the living plant.
• noun An item of clothing worn over or under another.
• intransitive verb To divide or form into layers.
• intransitive verb To cut (hair) into different, usually overlapping lengths.
• intransitive verb Botany To propagate (a plant) by means of a layer.
• intransitive verb To wear (clothing) in layers.
• intransitive verb To form or come apart as layers.
• intransitive verb Botany To take root as a result of layering.

from The Century Dictionary.

• In horticulture, to propagate by bending the shoot of a living stem into the soil, the shoot striking root while still fed by the parent plant.
• noun In oyster culture, an artificial oyster-bed.
• noun In cattle-raising, a field or yard in which cattle ready for shipment are kept.
• noun In phytogeography, one of several strata of plants of different vegetation forms met with in some formations, especially in forests.
• noun One who or that which lays, in any sense of the verb lay: as, a brick layer; specifically, a hen that lays eggs: as, she is a good layer.
• noun A thickness of some material laid or resting upon or spread over a surface of any kind; a stratum of moderate thickness: as, a layer of paint; successive layers of clay, shale, and slate; a cake made in layers; the five layers of the muscles of the back.
• noun In masonry and bricklaying:
• noun Same as course, 16 .
• noun A bed of mortar or cement.
• noun In leather manufacturing, a welt or strengthening strip.
• noun A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, partly laid under ground for growth or propagation.
• noun In tanning, a pit or vat containing a strong solution of tannin, in which hides are laid near the end of the tanning process. Also called bloomer-pit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun One who, or that which, lays.
• noun That which is laid; a stratum; a bed; one thickness, course, or fold laid over another
• noun A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, laid under ground for growth or propagation.
• noun An artificial oyster bed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
• noun A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.
• noun A person who lays things, such as tiles.
• noun A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs.
• noun A hen kept to lay eggs.
• noun A shoot of a plant, laid underground for growth.
• verb transitive, intransitive to cut or divide (something) into layers
• verb transitive, intransitive to arrange (something) in layers.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb make or form a layer
• noun an abstract place usually conceived as having depth
• noun a hen that lays eggs
• noun thin structure composed of a single thickness of cells
• noun single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance
• noun a relatively thin sheetlike expanse or region lying over or under another