floss

[ flaws, flos ]
See synonyms for floss on Thesaurus.com
nounAlso called floss silk (for defs. 1, 3).
  1. the cottony fiber yielded by the silk-cotton tree.

  2. silk filaments with little or no twist, used in weaving as brocade or in embroidery.

  1. any silky, filamentous matter, as the silk of corn.

verb (used without object)
  1. to use dental floss on the teeth.

verb (used with object)
  1. to clean (the teeth) with dental floss.

Origin of floss

1
1750–60; probably <French floche, as in soie floche floss silk, Old French flosche down, velvet pile (of uncertain origin)

Other words from floss

  • flosser, noun

Words Nearby floss

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How to use floss in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for floss

floss

/ (flɒs) /


noun
  1. the mass of fine silky fibres obtained from cotton and similar plants

  2. any similar fine silky material, such as the hairlike styles and stigmas of maize or the fibres prepared from silkworm cocoons

  1. untwisted silk thread used in embroidery, etc

verb
  1. (tr) to clean (between one's teeth) with dental floss

Origin of floss

1
C18: perhaps from Old French flosche down

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