mascara

[ma-skar-uh; British ma-skahr-uh]

noun

a substance used as a cosmetic to color the eyelashes and eyebrows.

verb (used with object)

to apply mascara to.

Origin of mascara

1885–90; < Spanish: mask; see mask

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

Examples from the Web for mascara

Contemporary Examples of mascara

Storage containers hold a treasure trove of mascara, lipstick, blush, and other makeup.
Inside A Finishing School for Transwomen
Sharon Adarlo
December 27, 2014
Obviously as Secretary of State the most pressing concern she had was mascara.
Should We Judge Hillary’s Hair or Christie’s Weight?
Keli Goff
January 6, 2014
What better way to sell a deodorant or mascara than by buttressing a show that screams girl power and body pride?
TV's New Super-Sized Heroine
Rachel Syme
July 13, 2009
No one thinks to transform him into an Adonis, to require him to mascara his lashes or tint his cheekbones a delicate pink.
The Men on the Dais
Daphne Merkin
January 2, 2009

Historical Examples of mascara

I picked out a faint lavender scent, and then bought some lipstick, mascara, and eyebrow pencil.
Exile from Space
Judith Merril
Mascara is a town of the French colonial type, few vestiges of the Moorish period remaining.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 7
Various
The principal industry is the making of wine, the white wines of Mascara being held in high repute.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 7
Various
The road, 80 kilomtres long, which connects Mostaganem with Mascara, was covered to the whole of its extent.
The Insect World
Louis Figuier
He went to Algeria in 1835, served in the expedition to Mascara, at the capture of Tlemcen, and in 1837 became captain.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2
Various

British Dictionary definitions for mascara

mascara

noun

a cosmetic substance for darkening, colouring, and thickening the eyelashes, applied with a brush or rod

Word Origin for mascara

C20: from Spanish: mask

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 mascara

cosmetic for coloring eyelashes, 1883, mascaro (modern form from 1922), from Spanish mascara "a stain, a mask," from same source as Italian maschera "mask" (see mask (v.)).