I. ˈgläs, -ȯ- noun
( -es )
Etymology: probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Icelandic glossi flame, spark, glossa to glow, flame, Norwegian dialect glose to glow; akin to Middle High German glosen to glow, Old English geolu yellow — more at yellow
1. : a superficial soft glowing luster or glistening brightness : a smooth soft surface shininess
the gloss of satin
the yellowish gloss of old ivory — Willard Robertson
: sleekness
brushed the dog's coat to a beautiful gloss
2.
a.
[probably influenced in meaning by gloss (III) and gloze (I) ]
: something (as a motive alleged) designed to veil or hide what would otherwise be objected to : plausible pretext : show , pretense , semblance , dodge , excuse
giving national aggrandizement the gloss of moral sanction
b. : a deceptively attractive external appearance
selfishness that had a gloss of humanitarianism about it
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
1.
a. : to give a deceptively attractive external appearance to : whitewash : make appear right or acceptable (as by minimizing or playing down obviously objectionable features) — usually used with over
endeavored to gloss the matter over — Dorothy Sayers
no attempt is made to gloss over discreditable behavior — Philip Friedman
b. : to veil or hide (something that would otherwise be objected to or prove a source of difficulty) by some plausible pretext, subterfuge, pretense, or excuse — usually used with over
not wish to gloss over the fragmentary state of our present knowledge — A.S.Eddington
a tendency to gloss over inadequacies in the data with generalizations — R.M.Adams
2. : to give a soft glowing luster or glistening brightness to : make glossy
the tarred road was glossed by the noonday sun
feathers that were glossed by much preening
Synonyms: see palliate
III. noun
( -es )
Etymology: alteration (influenced by Latin glossa ) of gloze, from Middle English glose, from Old French, from Medieval Latin glosa, alteration of Latin glossa difficult word requiring explanation, from Greek glōssa difficult word requiring explanation, language, tongue; akin to Greek glōchin-, glōchis projecting point and perhaps to Old Slavic glogŭ thorn
1.
a.
(1) : a brief explanation or a translation or definition (as one appearing in the margin or between the lines of a text or in a wordbook based on the text) of a textual word or expression felt to be difficult or obscure
(2) : an expanded interpretation of or commentary on a textual word or expression
(3) : a usually willfully misleading or otherwise false explanation or interpretation of or commentary on a textual word or expression : an interpretation marked by usually conscious sophistry
b.
(1) : glossary
(2) : a continuous interlinear translation
(3) : a continuous explanation or commentary accompanying a text ; specifically : a commentary (as made at Bologna from the 12th century to the 14th century) on the texts of Roman or Civil law
2. : a poetical composition consisting of an amplification of a stanza of a poem into several stanzas so that each of the new stanzas ends with a line or couplet of the text stanza
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
intransitive verb
1. : to make glosses : introduce or furnish glosses
spent much time in reading and glossing
2. archaic : to make usually unfavorable remarks : comment adversely
transitive verb
1. : to make glosses on : introduce glosses into : furnish glosses for
medieval scholars, when they found in a Latin text a word not familiar to them, were accustomed to gloss it — J.W.Krutch
2. : to make a false or perverse interpretation of ; specifically : to dispose of or reduce to nothing (as a difficult problem) by false or perverse interpretation
trying to gloss away the irrationalities of the universe — Irwin Edman
V. abbreviation
glossary
VI. noun
1. : a cosmetic preparation for adding shine and usually color to the lips
2. : bright often superficial attractiveness
show-biz gloss