floss
[flaws, flos]
- 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.
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- to use dental floss on the teeth.
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- to clean (the teeth) with dental floss.
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Origin of floss
1750–60; probably < French floche, as in soie floche floss silk, Old French flosche down, velvet pile (of uncertain origin)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for floss
Contemporary Examples
Oh, sure, Joe has a tendency to floss with his own shoelaces.
I will floss my teeth because chimps have been known to floss their teeth.
Historical Examples
The material most proper for them is floss wool, and they should be knitted with steel pins.
The Ladies' Work-Table BookAnonymous
It is a sadder book than 'The Mill on the Floss,' of which it reminds us.
You floss up to the tallest domino and give him a good time.
Still JimHonor 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 AmericanEdwin Watts Chubb
As for Floss, Helen had already got a hold upon that young lady.
The Girl from Sunset RanchAmy Bell Marlowe
floss
- 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
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- (tr) to clean (between one's teeth) with dental floss
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Word Origin
C18: perhaps from Old French flosche down
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for floss
n.
"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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper