(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ of a material or substance is a quantity or piece of it that covers a surface or that is between two other things.
A fresh ~ of snow covered the street...
Arrange all the vegetables except the potatoes in ~s.
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n
2.
If something such as a system or an idea has many ~s, it has many different levels or parts.
...an astounding ten ~s of staff between the factory worker and the chief executive...
Critics and the public puzzle out the ~s of meaning in his photos.
N-COUNT
3.
If you ~ something, you arrange it in ~s.
Layer the potatoes, asparagus and salmon in the tin...
VERB: V n