floss

[flaws, flos]

See more 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.

Origin of floss

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

Related formsfloss·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for floss

cord, wire, string, yarn, hair, fiber, strand, filament, wool, ribbon, cotton, silk, embellishment, ornament, fuzz, lint, braid, gossamer, lisle, fibril

Examples from the Web for floss

Contemporary Examples of floss

Oh, sure, Joe has a tendency to floss with his own shoelaces.
Joe Biden’s Happy Warrior Speech
Michelle Cottle
September 7, 2012
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

Historical Examples of floss

The material most proper for them is floss wool, and they should be knitted with steel pins.
The Ladies' Work-Table Book
Anonymous
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
You floss up to the tallest domino and give him a good time.
Still Jim
Honor Willsie Morrow
I ventured to disagree with her, and to say that the Mill on the Floss was my favorite.
Stories of Authors, British and American
Edwin Watts Chubb
As for Floss, Helen had already got a hold upon that young lady.
The Girl from Sunset Ranch
Amy Bell Marlowe

British Dictionary definitions for floss

floss

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

Word Origin and History for floss

"rough silk," 1759, perhaps from French floche "tuft of wool" (16c.), from Old French floc "tuft, lock," from Latin floccus "tuft of wool." Or from an unrecorded Old English or Old Norse word from the root found in Dutch flos "plush" (17c.). Cf. the surname Flossmonger, attested 1314, which might represent a direct borrowing from Scandinavian or Low German. In "The Mill on the Floss" the word is the proper name of a fictitious river in the English Midlands.