floss

[ flaws, flos ]

/ flɔs, flɒs /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR floss ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Also called floss silk (for defs 1, 3).

the cottony fiber yielded by the silk-cotton tree.

silk filaments with little or no twist, used in weaving as brocade or in embroidery.

any silky, filamentous matter, as the silk of corn.

dental floss.

verb (used without object)

to use dental floss on the teeth.

verb (used with object)

to clean (the teeth) with dental floss.

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Lincolnesque

without interest or significance; dull; insipid.

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very high or tall; lofty.

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Words nearby floss

floruit, florula, flory, floréal, flos ferri, floss, floss hole, flossie, flossy, flotage, flotation

Origin of floss

1750–60; probably < French floche, as in soie floche floss silk, Old French flosche down, velvet pile (of uncertain origin)

OTHER WORDS FROM floss

floss·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for floss

Oh, sure, Joe has a tendency to floss with his own shoelaces.
Joe Biden’s Happy Warrior Speech|Michelle Cottle|September 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I will floss my teeth because chimps have been known to floss their teeth.
Exercising Like a Caveman: A.J. Jacobs Gets Primal|A.J. Jacobs|April 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Suddenly it struck her that Carrots had been busy "tidying" for Floss that morning.
"Carrots:"|Mrs. Molesworth
Floss felt troubled in a way she could not understand, and I think Carrots did too.
"Carrots:"|Mrs. Molesworth

Floss said, one day when she and Carrots came in from a race on the sands, all hot and rosy with running.
"Carrots:"|Mrs. Molesworth
"I don't think so, I don't know what to do," said Floss, looking sadly troubled again.
"Carrots:"|Mrs. Molesworth
It is a sadder book than 'The Mill on the Floss,' of which it reminds us.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 5, May, 1864|Various

British Dictionary definitions for floss

floss

/ (flɒs) /

noun

the mass of fine silky fibres obtained from cotton and similar plants

any similar fine silky material, such as the hairlike styles and stigmas of maize or the fibres prepared from silkworm cocoons

untwisted silk thread used in embroidery, etc

See dental floss

verb

(tr) to clean (between one's teeth) with dental floss

Word Origin for floss

C18: perhaps from Old French flosche down

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