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emboss

[em-baws, -bos]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to raise or represent (surface designs) in relief.
  2. to decorate (a surface) with raised ornament.
  3. Metalworking. to raise a design on (a blank) with dies of similar pattern, one the negative of the other.Compare coin(def 10).
  4. to cause to bulge out; make protuberant.
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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. 2018

Related Words for embossed

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

Examples from the Web for embossed

Contemporary Examples of embossed

Historical Examples of embossed

  • The walls are hung with blue Florentine silk, embossed in silver.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • Breaking it open she drew out an embossed and gilded card—a ticket.

    The Free Lances

    Mayne Reid

  • Then it would take a turn at embossed tin lids for candy boxes.

    The Good Soldier

    Ford Madox Ford

  • His brother remained engrossed with the embossed head of Medusa.

  • The room in which he was standing was furnished in embossed leather.

    At the Time Appointed

    A. Maynard Barbour

British Dictionary definitions for embossed

embossed

adjective
  1. having a moulded or carved decoration or design on the surface so that it is raised above the surface in low relief
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emboss

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
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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 embossed

emboss

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper