glaze
Americanverb (used with object)
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glazes,
present (3rd person singular)
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glazed,
past participle, past
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glazing
present participle
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to furnish or fill with glass.
to glaze a window.
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to give a vitreous surface or coating to (a ceramic or the like), as by the application of a substance or by fusion of the body.
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to cover with a smooth, glossy surface or coating.
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Cooking. to coat (a food) with sugar, a sugar syrup, or some other glossy, edible substance.
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Fine Arts. to cover (a painted surface or parts of it) with a thin layer of transparent color in order to modify the tone.
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to give a glassy surface to, as by polishing.
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to give a coating of ice to (frozen food) by dipping in water.
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to grind (cutlery blades) in preparation for finishing.
verb (used without object)
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glazes,
present (3rd person singular)
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glazed,
past participle, past
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glazing
present participle
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to become glazed or glassy.
Their eyes glazed over as the lecturer droned on.
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(of a grinding wheel) to lose abrasive quality through polishing of the surface from wear.
noun
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glazes
plural
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a smooth, glossy surface or coating.
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the substance for producing such a coating.
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Ceramics.
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a vitreous layer or coating on a piece of pottery.
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the substance of which such a layer or coating is made.
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Fine Arts. a thin layer of transparent color spread over a painted surface.
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a smooth, lustrous surface on certain fabrics, produced by treating the material with a chemical and calendering.
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Cooking.
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a substance used to coat a food, especially sugar or sugar syrup.
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stock cooked down to a thin paste for applying to the surface of meats.
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especially British, glazed frost. Also called silver frost, silver thaw, verglas. Also called glaze ice,. a thin coating of ice on terrestrial objects, caused by rain that freezes on impact.
verb
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(tr) to fit or cover with glass
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(tr) ceramics to cover with a vitreous solution, rendering impervious to liquid and smooth to the touch
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(tr) to cover (a painting) with a layer of semitransparent colour to modify the tones
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(tr) to cover (foods) with a shiny coating by applying beaten egg, sugar, etc
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(tr) to make glossy or shiny
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to become or cause to become glassy
his eyes were glazing over
noun
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ceramics
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a vitreous or glossy coating
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the substance used to produce such a coating
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a semitransparent coating applied to a painting to modify the tones
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a smooth lustrous finish on a fabric produced by applying various chemicals
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something used to give a glossy surface to foods
a syrup glaze
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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glazernoun
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glazinessnoun
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semiglazenoun
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reglazeverb (used with object)
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glazedadjective
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glazyadjective
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glazilyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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glazesimple
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glazessimple
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have glazedperfect
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has glazedperfect
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am glazingprogressive
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are glazingprogressive
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is glazingprogressive
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have been glazingperfect progressive
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has been glazingperfect progressive
Past
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glazedsimple
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had glazedperfect
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was glazingprogressive
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were glazingprogressive
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had been glazingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glaze
1325–75; Middle English glasen, derivative of glas glass
Explanation
The glaze on a doughnut is the thin sweet coating that makes your fingers sticky. The glaze on a coffee table is the shiny coating that makes it glossy. The glaze on your friend's eyes as you talk is a sign that maybe you're boring her. Like glass, a glaze is a shiny clear substance so it's no surprise that they both come from the same root word glas. Objects that have a glaze on them include ceramic pots and doughnuts. If you glaze over something, you're covering it with a thin clear substance that makes it look polished. If someone says your eyes are starting to glaze over, snap out of it and look alive.
Vocabulary lists containing glaze
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Stairway To Leaven: Baking Vocabulary
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Ghost Boys
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The company manufactures its own equipment to shape, bake and glaze the shiny pastries it sells across more than 40 countries, and relies on relatively few workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
"They'd ask what school I'd gone to when I replied, 'you know, just like the local comprehensive,' their eyes would just sort of glaze over."
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
But that dinner, more than anything else, adds a hardened glaze of insult to Megan’s allegation that Thompson cheated on her.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2026
The chain is set to land on the West Coast on Friday, serving strawberry shortcake matchas and cherry glaze cold brew lattes to an invite-only crowd at Kendall Jenner’s 818 Outpost at Coachella.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
The new ice is tricky, slick blue stuff just hidden by a white glaze.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Stoneware, from high-art jasperware works to the humble dining plates on our kitchen shelves, is always formed from clay then decorated using glazes and other materials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
Leftover curry pastes, chipotles in adobo, gochujang-honey glazes, romesco, tamarind chutney—all of them freeze beautifully.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2025
Having a home studio has made it easier for Lee to experiment with pottery glazes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
He leaves the surfaces simple, without colorful glazes or decoration.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
It lacked glazes, was made by hand rather than on potters’ wheels, was baked in open fires rather than in kilns, and was fired at relatively low temperatures.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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For dessert, Proust's beloved madeleines and mirabelles jostled for attention with distinctly American-accented glazed doughnuts.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Perfect with baked chicken or pan-fried fish, glazed carrots are in store on Thursday.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
I just know they’re the type of people who love a good board game — one with rules that take a half-hour to explain, by which time their guests’ eyes have glazed over.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Chisora, partly outside of the ropes, beat the count at eight, eyes glazed, as Wilder stalked forward.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026
He looked into the unconscious man’s eyes and saw nothing, just the glazed look that was there before.
From "The River" by Gary Paulsen
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The U.S. asset manager expects the Japanese company to capture rising demand for architectural glass, automotive glazing and solar products thanks to its manufacturing capabilities and deep customer relationships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
To describe the phenomenon, he used the slang word "glazing" -- to excessively praise something.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
So they had to test out different processes of glazing in order to make the tone and texture match the old tiles as closely as possible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
“Please don’t be glazing me here, Zohran,” he said, borrowing some Gen Alpha slang as the candidates, and audience, laughed riotously.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2025
Perugia would soon leave the glazing firm, but he’d gotten to know the workers at the Louvre and he still visited the museum.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.