/flɒs/, /flɔs/, /flɑs/
OriginUnclear:
* 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.).
- countable, uncountableA thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
- countable, uncountableRaw silk fibres.
- countable, uncountableThe fibres covering a corncob etc.; the loose downy or silky material inside the husks of certain plants, such as beans.
- countable, uncountableAny thread-like material having parallel strands that are not spun or wound around each other.
- British, countable, uncountableSpun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
- countable, uncountableA body feather of an ostrich.
“Flosses are soft, and grey from the female and black from the male.”
- countable, uncountableA 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.
- UKA small stream of water.
- Fluid glass floating on iron in the puddling furnace, produced by the vitrification of oxides and earths which are present.
- Northern-England, ScotlandThe common rush (Juncus effusus).
- abbreviation, alt-of, uncountableAbbreviation of free/libre/open source software.
“FLOSS has proven to be an extremely valuable tool for accelerating research in various fields of IT and engineering in order to address the needs of society in the future.”
- ambitransitiveTo clean the area between (the teeth) using floss.
“I don't floss very often.”
“I floss my teeth twice a day.”
- slangTo show off, especially by exhibiting one's wealth or talent.
“As the label's name no doubt implies, these rappers aren't your typical crew, even if they still like to floss and represent their city.”
““Ms. Jackson” is probably the most sensitive—and realistic—take on relationships to come out of hip-hop, while “Red Velvet” cautions would-be playas against pushing the floss envelope around “dirty bo”
“It's impossible to floss wealth without attracting envy.”
- intransitiveTo perform the floss dance move.
Formsflosses(plural) · flosses(present, singular, third-person) · flossing(participle, present) · flossed(participle, past) · flossed(past)