glossnoun
uk/ɡlɒs/us/ɡlɑːs/gloss noun (APPEARANCE)
[ S or U ] a smooth, shiny appearance on the surface of something:
Marble can be polished to a high gloss.
This varnish provides a long-lasting and hard-wearing gloss finish.
[ U ] paint that produces a smooth, shiny appearance on a surface:
We'll need a litre of gloss (paint) to cover the woodwork.
All the shades are available in matt or gloss.
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matt
[ U ] a substance used to make your lips, hair, or skin appear shiny:
lip gloss
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Paints, dyes & pigments
- colourway
- distemper
- dye
- emulsion
- flaxseed oil
- glossy
- Indian ink
- ink
- pigment
- poster paint
- primer
- propanone
- rinse
- satin
- tint
- tinted
- varnished
- warpaint
- white spirit
- whitewash
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gloss noun (EXPLANATION)
[ C ] an explanation for a word or phrase:
Difficult expressions are explained in the glosses at the bottom of the page.
Idiom(s)
put a gloss on sth
take the gloss off sth
glossverb [ T ]
uk/ɡlɒs/us/ɡlɑːs/gloss verb [ T ] (EXPLAIN)
to provide an explanation for a word or phrase:
In the school edition of the book, the older and more rare words have been glossed.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Defining & explaining
- (do you) see what I mean? idiom
- account (to sb) for sth
- accountable
- cast
- clarify
- convey
- demystify
- descriptive
- every picture tells a story idiom
- evocative
- evoke
- explicable
- explicate
- fill
- get sth across
- mean
- scene
- schematic
- that is to say ... idiom
- unfold
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gloss verb [ T ] (PAINT)
UK to paint something with gloss paint:
They glossed the woodwork.
Phrasal verb(s)
gloss over sth