gold leaf

American  

noun

1. gold in the form of very thin foil, as for gilding.

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gold leaf British  

noun

1. very thin gold sheet with a thickness usually between 0.076 and 0.127 micrometre, produced by rolling or hammering gold and used for gilding woodwork, etc

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Other Word Forms

• gold-leaf adjective

Etymology

Origin of gold leaf

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

Tiny buds had broken out along some, and gold leaves, hard as the bark, were forming.

From Literature

Carving the intricate statues, which are often adorned with bright paint and gold leaf, was an art he learned from his father as a teenager.

From Barron's

It is made of more than 1,000 handblown coloured glass tiles, each inlaid with gold leaf, echoing the colours of the cathedral's stained-glass windows.

From BBC

The cake’s original version was covered in gold leaf, but aside from eye candy, you’re not missing anything without it.

From The Wall Street Journal

He traced a finger along the book’s cover, where the faded imprint of the author’s name was pressed into the leather, though the gold leaf had long since worn away.

From Literature