emboss

[ em-baws, -bos ]
See synonyms for: embossembossed on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to raise or represent (surface designs) in relief.

  2. to decorate (a surface) with raised ornament.

  1. Metalworking. to raise a design on (a blank) with dies of similar pattern, one the negative of the other.: Compare coin (def. 10).

  2. to cause to bulge out; make protuberant.

Origin of emboss

1
1350–1400; Middle English embosen<Middle French embocer, equivalent to em-em-1 + boceboss2

Other words from emboss

  • em·boss·a·ble, adjective
  • em·boss·er, noun
  • em·boss·ment, noun
  • un·em·bossed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use emboss in a sentence

  • An Xbox will have a big X somewhere on a side without cables coming out of it, and a PS4 will have a subtler “PS” symbol embossed on it.

  • The two classes with which I was brought into contact were the book-keeping and embossing.

    Mystic London: | Charles Maurice Davies
  • The arrangement of a steel embossing-point working upon a grooved roller--a radical difference--was a portion of this change.

    Steam Steel and Electricity | James W. Steele
  • This method leaves the cover to be decorated in some other way, either by embossing or by enameling or by both.

    Copper Work | Augustus F. Rose
  • The edge of the tray or plate may be decorated either by piercing, embossing, etching, or enameling.

    Copper Work | Augustus F. Rose

British Dictionary definitions for emboss

emboss

/ (ɪmˈbɒs) /


verb
  1. to mould or carve (a decoration or design) on (a surface) so that it is raised above the surface in low relief

  2. to cause to bulge; make protrude

Origin of emboss

1
C14: from Old French embocer, from em- + boce boss ²

Derived forms of emboss

  • embosser, noun
  • embossment, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012