stained glass

American  

noun

1. glass that has been colored, enameled, painted, or stained, especially by having pigments baked onto its surface or by having various metallic oxides fused into it, as used in church windows, decorative lampshades, etc.

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stained glass British  

noun

1. 1. glass that has been coloured in any of various ways, as by fusing with a film of metallic oxide or burning pigment into the surface, used esp for church windows

   2. ( as modifier )

      a stained-glass window

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Other Word Forms

• stained-glass adjective

Etymology

Origin of stained glass

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

Looming over the colorless town is its hulking circa-1385 monastery, extended in convent courtyards and stately chapels with lofty naves, offering dazzling displays of stained glass.

From The Wall Street Journal

He nodded back, and the light streaming in from the stained glass window glinted gold on his slicked-back tawny hair.

From Literature

Built on the site of Andrew Jackson’s headquarters in the War of 1812 and replete with marble staircases and stained glass, the hotel dates to 1908.

From The Wall Street Journal

We sit, alone together, as the soft dusk light streams through the stained glass windows.

From Literature

Artist Ben Tuna has turned the shells of burned-out vintage Porsches into artistic symbols of revival through his work with stained glass salvaged from churches.

From Los Angeles Times