English Explanatory Dictionary

floss

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
  2. Raw silk fibres.
  3. The fibres covering a corncob etc.; the loose downy or silky material inside the husks of certain plants, such as beans.
  4. Any thread-like material having parallel strands that are not spun or wound around each other.
  5. Spun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
  6. A body feather of an ostrich.
  7. A dance move in which the dancer repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on each side.
verb
  1. To clean the area between (the teeth) using floss.
  2. To show off, especially by exhibiting one's wealth or talent.
  3. To perform the floss dance move.
noun
  1. A small stream of water.
  2. Fluid glass floating on iron in the puddling furnace, produced by the vitrification of oxides and earths which are present.
noun
  1. The common rush (Juncus effusus).
noun
  1. Abbreviation of free/libre/open source software.

Pronunciation

/flɒs/ /flɔs/ /flɑs/ en-us-floss.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-floss.wav

Word forms

floss flosses flossing flossed

Etymology

Unclear: * Possibly from French floche (“tuft of wool”), from floc, from Old French flosche (“down, velvet”), from Latin floccus (“piece of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokkō (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkô (“down, piece of wool, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”). * Or, from Middle English *flos (attested in Middle English Flosmonger (a surname)), from Proto-West Germanic *fleus, related to English fleece. Cognate with Old High German flocko (“down”), Middle Dutch vlocke (“flock”), Norwegian dialectal flugsa (“snowflake”), Dutch flos (“plush”) (tr=17c.).

Synonyms

flamboast high-side stunt aura farm boulevardier cut a wide swath cut it fat cut round exhibitionize figure away flaunt flex floss fluff one's feathers gallery let one's nuts hang ostent ostentate preen showboat show away show off strut strut one's stuff swag it out swagger swank three-sheet venditate yaya common rush soft rush

Derived words

ass floss butt floss candy floss dental floss fairy floss flosslike floss pick floss silk flossy meat floss pork floss flossable flosser flossible refloss unflossed floss hole
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on F Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary