glove
Americannoun
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gloves
plural
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a covering for the hand made with a separate sheath for each finger and for the thumb.
verb (used with object)
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gloves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gloved,
past participle, past
-
gloving
present participle
-
to cover with or as if with a glove; provide with gloves.
-
to serve as a glove for.
idioms
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throw down the glove. gauntlet.
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handle with kid gloves. kid gloves.
-
hand and glove. hand.
-
take up the glove. gauntlet.
noun
-
(often plural) a shaped covering for the hand with individual sheaths for the fingers and thumb, made of leather, fabric, etc See also gauntlet 1
-
any of various large protective hand covers worn in sports, such as a boxing glove
-
informal in an intimate relationship or close association
-
informal to treat with extreme care
-
informal (of a dispute, argument, etc) conducted mercilessly and in earnest, with no reservations
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
glovesimple
-
glovessimple
-
have glovedperfect
-
has glovedperfect
-
am glovingprogressive
-
are glovingprogressive
-
is glovingprogressive
-
have been glovingperfect progressive
-
has been glovingperfect progressive
Past
-
glovedsimple
-
had glovedperfect
-
was glovingprogressive
-
were glovingprogressive
-
had been glovingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glove
before 900; Middle English; Old English glōf; cognate with Old Norse glōfi
Explanation
A glove is a piece of clothing that you wear on your hand, to protect it or keep it warm. Most people wear a pair of gloves, unless — of course — they are imitating Michael Jackson. Cold-weather gloves are soft and warm, made from fabrics like wool, polar fleece, or leather. There are also gloves that protect the skin on your hands while you're cleaning, using chemicals, or washing dishes; and gloves that prevent the spreading of germs, worn by food handlers and health care workers. Athletes sometimes wear gloves as well, like boxing gloves or the gloves worn by hockey goalies.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I loved hitting a line drive that knocked somebody’s glove off or blew past a fielder trying to catch it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Skubal induced Báez to fly out to center field and punched the palm of his glove on his way off the field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Early in the second, a right hook knocked Hrgovic off-balance and his glove touched the canvas.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
In that sense, the court works hand in glove with the American people to create this mythology of the oracular balls-and-strikes court.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Jason dives for it anyway, but the ball tips off the end of his glove.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
She and a dozen colleagues don cotton gloves, roll up their sleeves and plant themselves on cheap plastic stools for the task of separating out the valuable, intact mushrooms from the busted ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
In this work, however, the researchers demonstrated that weft knitting, the same industrial method commonly used to produce hats and gloves, can create complex curved structures using yarn alone.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
He said the UN health agency had delivered surgical masks and gloves and body bags to Nepal.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The gloves have been adopted in detention centers, law enforcement agencies and jails across the country, though apparently none in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
He fiddled with his gloves, tightening them on his fingers as he rounded the corner.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Roebuck immediately recognized the long gun in the man’s gloved hands.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
During a stop at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, an owl perched on her gloved arm made her squeal like the girl she had been during her first visit there on a grade-school field trip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared on the night of January 31-February 1, with recovered security camera footage showing a masked and gloved person prowling outside her home in the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
Again, it mattered little with the U.S. getting that goal back three minutes later with Tillman bending a free kick from the top of the box off Vasilj’s gloved right hand and into the net.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
With a gloved hand she tossed the little bouquet of roses into the grave.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Joe Root is reprieved by Cameron Green's no-ball after gloving behind on 1 on day two of the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2023
But Jesse Winker took a circuitous route to gloving it and Rengifo recognized it, hustling to second for a double.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2022
In public, we now cover and constrain ourselves as never before, masking our faces, gloving our hands.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2020
He wasn’t far from gloving a ball that snuck through the gate, either - an enduring issue for England’s No3.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 11, 2020
They could not but smile, but waited for the king, who, when he had had his laugh out, explained the allusion to the Conqueror’s leather dressing and gloving lineage.
From Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln A Short Story of One of the Makers of Mediaeval England by Charles L. (Charles Latimer) Marson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
