From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsurface areaˈsurface ˌarea noun [countable] SURFACEthe area of the outside of an object that can be measured
Examples from the Corpus
surface area• The aim was to get the weight as low as possible while at the same time maintain adequate surface area.• Its brain is quite small which means that the ratio of brain weight to brain surface area is also small.• The tension in the films draws them towards minimum surface area.• This reduces the perceived surface area.• Simply by growing larger, creatures suffer a continual decrease in relative surface area.• Perhaps 10 percent of the surface area of the planet is dark, clear, and populated at any given time. 