glass

[ glas ]

See synonyms for glass on Thesaurus.com

noun

a hard, brittle, noncrystalline, more or less transparent substance produced by fusion, usually consisting of mutually dissolved silica and silicates that also contain soda and lime, as in the ordinary variety used for windows and bottles.
any artificial or natural noncrystalline and transparent hard substance, such as fused borax, obsidian, or the like.

something made of a noncrystalline and transparent hard substance, such as a windowpane.
a tumbler or other comparatively tall, handleless drinking container.
the quantity contained within a tumbler or other tall, handleless drinking container; a glassful: She poured two glasses of wine for herself and her guest.Drink a glass of orange juice and you'll feel better.
a tumbler or other tall, handleless drinking container with its contents: Hand me that glass of milk.
glas·ses, Also called eye·glas·ses [ahy-gla-siz]. /ˈaɪˌglæ sɪz/. a device to compensate for impaired vision or to protect the eyes from light, dust, and the like, consisting usually of two glass or plastic lenses set in a frame that includes a nosepiece for resting on the bridge of the nose and two sidepieces extending over or around the ears (usually used with pair of).: Compare goggle (def. 1a), pince-nez, spectacle (def. 3).
a mirror.
things made of glass, collectively; glassware: They used to collect old glass.
a lens, especially one used as a magnifying glass.
a spyglass.

adjective

made of glass: a glass tray.
furnished or fitted with panes of glass; glazed.

verb (used with object)

to fit with panes of glass.
cover with or encase in glass.

to coat or cover with fiberglass: to glass the hull of a boat.
to scan with a spyglass or other optical instrument.
to reflect: Trees glassed themselves in the lake.

Origin of glass

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun glas, Old English glæs; cognate with Dutch, German Glas

Other words from glass

glass·less, adjective
glass·like, adjective
non·glass, adjective
un·glassed, adjective

Words Nearby glass

Other definitions for Glass (2 of 2)

Glass

[ glas, glahs ]

noun

Carter, 1858–1946, U.S. statesman.
Philip, born 1937, U.S. composer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use glass in a sentence

Tugged away in a low-rise warehouse-turned-office in Guangzhou, the place is dotted with well-tended bonsai and staff sitting on bean bags behind glass meeting rooms.
Podcast is social: How China’s Lizhi makes audio interactive | Rita Liao | August 28, 2020 | TechCrunch
It’s having all of the tools that you need to package it into the glass vials with the rubber stoppers, having the needles and the alcohol swabs to administer it, and then getting it to the people who need it.
Will a Covid-19 Vaccine Change the Future of Medical Research? (Ep. 430) | Stephen J. Dubner | August 27, 2020 | Freakonomics
He thought that the sun could deliver an outsized push because it created vibrations at precisely the frequency of one of Laplace’s oscillations, much as an opera singer can shatter a wine glass with the right pitch.
Global Wave Discovery Ends 220-Year Search | Charlie Wood | August 13, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
For decades, observing at the world’s biggest and best telescopes meant climbing into cramped spaces high above the mirror, juggling glass photographic plates and hunching over a camera through long chilly nights.
Social Distancing From the Stars | Emily Levesque | August 11, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
A half-hour drive found us in a parking lot by a large glass building.
The Deck Is Not Rigged: Poker and the Limits of AI | Maria Konnikova | August 7, 2020 | Singularity Hub

Instead of decorating every face on the street, Google glass hit a contrarian rip tide.
You Were Wrong About Miley & Bitcoin: 2014’s Failed Predictions | Nina Strochlic | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Park employees helped John quit tobacco by way of a butts-proof glass enclosure, a drastic change in diet, and regular exercise.
Zebra Finches, Dolphins, Elephants, and More Animals Under the Influence | Bill Schulz | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He would shake a chilled Coke, and then spray the soda into a cold glass of milk.
History's Craziest Hangover Cures | Justin Jones | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
You meant to chase every glass of wine with a pitcher of H2O, but the holiday cheer somehow steered you off course.
5 Hangover Cures to Save You After a Few Too Many | DailyBurn | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The resulting product included four single-cask variants along with finished pictures of McKidd enjoying a glass of The Macallan.
The Restaurant, Flask, And Photography Worthy of The Macallan Whisky | | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I was rather awed by his imposing appearance, and advanced timidly to the doors, which were of glass, and pulled the bell.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy Fay
When she arrived she made a regular entry into the city in a coach all gold and glass, drawn by eight superb plumed horses.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy Fay
The doors (Indian bungalows have hardly any windows, each door being half glass) were open front and back.
The Red Year | Louis Tracy
Where the outside conditions are not very favourable, practically all the British species may be grown with ease under glass.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin
It is only necessary to have a zinc, or a galvanized tray on which to stand the glass in an inverted position.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin

British Dictionary definitions for glass (1 of 2)

glass

/ (ɡlɑːs) /

noun

- a hard brittle transparent or translucent noncrystalline solid, consisting of metal silicates or similar compounds. It is made from a fused mixture of oxides, such as lime, silicon dioxide, etc, and is used for making windows, mirrors, bottles, etc
- (as modifier): a glass bottle Related adjectives: vitreous, vitric
any compound that has solidified from a molten state into a noncrystalline form

something made of glass, esp a drinking vessel, a barometer, or a mirror
Also called: glassful the amount contained in a drinking glass
glassware collectively
See volcanic glass
See fibreglass

verb(tr)

to cover with, enclose in, or fit with glass
informal to hit (someone) in the face with a glass or a bottle

Origin of glass

Old English glæs; related to Old Norse gler, Old High German glas, Middle High German glast brightness; see glare 1

Derived forms of glass

glassless, adjective
glasslike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Glass (2 of 2)

Glass

/ (ɡlɑːs) /

noun

Philip. born 1937, US composer noted for his minimalist style: his works include Music in Fifths (1970), Akhnaten (1984), The Voyage (1992), and Monsters of Grace (1998); his film music includes scores for Kundun (1998), The Truman Show (1999), and The Hours (2002)

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

Scientific definitions for glass

glass

[ glăs ]

A usually transparent or translucent material that has no crystalline structure yet behaves like a solid. Common glass is generally composed of a silicate (such as silicon oxide, or quartz) combined with an alkali and sometimes other substances. The glass used in windows and windshields, called soda glass, is made by melting a silicate with sodium carbonate (soda) and calcium oxide (lime). Other types of glass are made by adding other chemical compounds. Adding boron oxide causes some silicon atoms to be replaced by boron atoms, resulting in a tougher glass that remains solid at high temperatures, used for cooking utensils and scientific apparatuses. Glass used for decorative purposes often has iron in it to alter its optical properties.

a closer look

Common sand and glass are both made primarily of silicon and oxygen, yet sand is opaque and glass is transparent. Glass owes its transparency partly to the fact that it is not a typical solid. On the molecular level, solids usually have a highly regular, three-dimensional crystalline structure; the regularities distributed throughout the solid act as mirrors that scatter incoming light. Glass, however, consists of molecules which, though relatively motionless like a typical solid, are not arranged in regular patterns and thus exhibit little scattering; light passes directly through. At a specific temperature, called the melting point, the intermolecular forces holding together the components of a typical solid can no longer maintain the regular structure, which then breaks down, and the material undergoes a phase transition from solid to liquid. The phase transition in glass, however, depends on how quickly the glass is heated (or how quickly it cools), due to its irregular solid structure.

Other Idioms and Phrases with glass

glass

In addition to the idioms beginning with glass

glass ceiling
glass is half full, the

also see:

people who live in glass houses

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