gloss Hear it!

gloss¹ Definition

gloss (glôs, gläs)

noun

  1. the brightness or luster of a smooth, polished surface; sheen
  2. a deceptively smooth or pleasant outward appearance, as in manners or speech
  3. lip gloss

Etymology: prob. < Scand, as in Norw dial. glosa, to gleam: for IE base see glass

transitive verb

  1. to give a polished, shiny surface to; make lustrous
  2. Etymology: a blend of vt. 1 & gloss

    to smooth over or cover up (an error, inadequacy, fault, etc.); make appear right by specious argument or by minimizing: often with over

intransitive verb

to become shiny

gloss¹ Related Forms

glosser noun

gloss² Definition

gloss (glôs, gläs)

noun

  1. words of explanation or translation inserted between the lines of a text
    1. a note of comment or explanation accompanying a text, as in a footnote or margin
    2. a collection of such notes
  2. a false or misleading interpretation

Etymology: ME glose < OFr or ML glosa, for L glossa, foreign or strange word needing explanation < Gr glōssa, orig., tongue, language < *glōchia, pointed object < glochis, point < IE base *glogh-, thorn, point > OSlav gloge, thorn

transitive verb

  1. to furnish (a text) with glosses
  2. to interpret falsely

intransitive verb

to annotate a text

gloss² Related Forms

glosser noun

gloss³ Definition

gloss

glossary

gloss Synonyms

gloss

n.

  1. Shine

    gleam, shimmer, polish; see finish 2.

  2. Explanatory note

    translation, commentary, footnote, annotation; see note 1.

gloss Usage Examples

Object

  • whipping: Finished with a deep gray blank with substantial high gloss black whippings.
  • lacquer: The whole artifact is finished with a high gloss acrylic lacquer.
  • varnish: This includes paint: emulsion, gloss, varnish, etc.
  • paint: The usual method is to mark the handle with a band or bands of a bright color gloss paint.
  • enamel: Ceramic tile, stainless steel, or sheetrock painted with high gloss enamel meet this requirement.
  • finish: The high gloss finish was achieved by spray painting & lacquer.

Preposition: over

fact: His gloss over the facts of the case is " The Queen acted in my view entirely properly throughout.

Adjective modifier

  • marginal: This translation also quickly dropped out of circulation, but much of its content survived in marginal glosses.
  • English: Our newest resource provides: - Maya pronunciations - English glosses - Grammatical usage - Thompson numbers, and more.

Adjective complement

  • black: Once again I managed to paint the three seat frames in the small saloon in gloss black.
  • white: B&Q Built in and freestanding bathroom units and furniture available in beech, gloss white, cherry finishes.

Modifying Another Word

  • rather: Gentleman has rather glossed over what I actually said, which is that we will meet our Kyoto targets.
  • no: There is no gloss, in the introduction, where you explain what the various clauses mean.
  • quickly: Like all liberal critiques of capitalism, class exploitation is either rubbed out completely or quickly glossed over.

Followed by an intransitive particle

over: Redgrave refused to gloss over his crew's defeat in Lucerne.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • over: The neutral term ' Heads of Department ' is used to gloss over the asymmetry of status of the two partners.
  • off: A 2-0 reverse took the gloss off the high spirits that dominated the previous Saturday.

Used with why or when

that: On the other, a sexy, shimmery gloss that makes lips beyond delectable.

Particle object:

fact: When I checked on this case, the Air Force made no attempt to gloss over the facts.

Modifies a noun

paint: A dry store, however may only need to be painted with gloss paint or washable emulsion.

Browse dictionary entries near gloss

  1. glory
  2. glorious
  3. gloriole
  4. glorify
  5. Gloria Patri
  6. Gloria in excelsis Deo
  7. Gloria
  8. glop
  9. gloomy
  10. gloom
  1. glossa
  2. glossal
  3. glossary
  4. glossator
  5. glossitis
  6. glosso-
  7. glossographer
  8. glossolalia
  9. glossy
  10. glottal