coat vs cover

Question

Could you please explain the differences between these two verbs?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

In what sentence? I covered her grave with fresh earth.-- 'Coat' is not possible there.

RJ · Answer

Yes, you are right! Thank you for you reply.

Firstly, I meant in the meaning, and then in usage. I noticed that 'cover' has some figurative meaning, whereas coat hasn't. Like in a war people say cover me that means distract others and don't let anyone shoot me! Right? But, e.g. in my field we say e.g. we coat polysilicon on silicon wafers, but we don't say cover.

Here is description process of coating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coating
The very first sentence is : A coating is a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate.

Is there any specific reason that they don't call it covering instead of coating or it's just naming.
The main process that I mean is like this: In a LPCVD system, metal will be vaporized and it will stick to a substrate as a thin layer of metal, that process is called coating, and I was wondering why not covering. I hope my explanations were enough to illustrate what I meant.

Mister Micawber · Answer

I noticed that 'cover' has some figurative meaning, whereas coat hasn't.-- Well, 'coat' does, too, as in 'turncoat'; most words do, I think—and that is why I wanted you to be more specific with your question.

Like in a war people say cover me that means distract others and don't let anyone shoot me! Right?- Right.

But, e.g. in my field we say e.g. we coat polysilicon on silicon wafers, but we don't say cover.-- Basically right, too: 'coat' is the usual choice. Though we might say 'once covered/coated in polysilicon, the wafer is ready to function'.

A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. Is there any specific reason that they don't call it covering instead of coating or it's just naming?-- Well. there you have it: 'coat' is a kind of 'cover'. Therefore, 'cover' is the more general word. If I had to force a definition, it would be that 'coat' is generally a thin, permanent, closely adhering 'cover'.

In an LPCVD system, metal will be vaporized and it will stick to a substrate as a thin layer of metal, that process is called coating, and I was wondering why not covering. I hope my explanations were enough to illustrate what I meant.-- And I hope my explanation above is enough to satisfy your question.

RJ · Answer

Thank you, those were definitely very good explanations. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> Thank you for your time.

coat vs cover

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