emboss

[em-baws, -bos]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR emboss ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to raise or represent (surface designs) in relief.

to decorate (a surface) with raised ornament.

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

to cause to bulge out; make protuberant.

Origin of emboss

1350–1400; Middle English embosen < Middle French embocer, equivalent to em- em-¹ + boce boss²

Related formsem·boss·a·ble, adjectiveem·boss·er, nounem·boss·ment, nounun·em·bossed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for emboss

etch, decorate, adorn, stamp, carve, impress, punch, sculpt

Examples from the Web for emboss

Historical Examples of emboss

Emboss′er; Emboss′ment, a prominence like a boss: raised-work.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various
Steel dies for flower-shapes have a cutting edge, so that they can stamp out and emboss in one action.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia
Various
It is cover'd with Dutch emboss'd paper, almost totally gilt.
Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at Philadelphia in America
Benjamin Franklin
But there is a way by which almost anyone may emboss stationery at home with one's own design at no expense whatever.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2
Various
In our earlier days did we not emboss our bosoms with the daffodils, and shake them almost unto shedding with our transport?
Imaginary Conversations and Poems
Walter Savage Landor

British Dictionary definitions for emboss

emboss

verb

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

to cause to bulge; make protrude

Derived Formsembosser, nounembossment, noun

Word Origin for emboss

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

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

Word Origin and History for emboss

late 14c., from Old French *embocer (cf. embocieure "boss, stud, buckle"), from em- (see en- (1)) + boce "knoblike mass" (see boss (n.2)). Related: Embossed; embossing.