without deductions; total, as the amount of sales, salary, profit, etc., before taking deductions for expenses, taxes, or the like (opposed to net).
gross earnings;
gross sales.
a gross scoundrel.
flagrant and extreme.
gross injustice.
indelicate, indecent, obscene, or vulgar.
gross remarks.
lacking in refinement, good manners, education, etc.; unrefined.
large, big, or bulky.
extremely or excessively fat.
of or concerning only the broadest or most general considerations, aspects, etc.
Slang. extremely objectionable, offensive, or disgusting.
He wore an outfit that was absolutely gross.
gross vegetation;
gross fog;
gross vapors.
a group of 12 dozen, or 144, things. gro.
total income from sales, salary, etc., before any deductions (opposed to net).
Obsolete. the main body, bulk, or mass.
repellently or excessively fat or bulky
with no deductions for expenses, tax, etc; total Compare net 2
gross sales
gross income
(of personal qualities, tastes, etc) conspicuously coarse or vulgar
obviously or exceptionally culpable or wrong; flagrant
gross inefficiency
lacking in perception, sensitivity, or discrimination
gross judgments
(esp of vegetation) dense; thick; luxuriant
obsolete coarse in texture or quality
rare rude; uneducated; ignorant
a unit of quantity equal to 12 dozen
the entire amount
the great majority
What’s the difference between gross and net? In the context of finance and accounting, gross refers to the total amount before any deductions, while net refers to the final amount that remains after deductions have been made. Of course, gross and net are common words with many other meanings, but these senses of gross and net are used in the context of measuring something (especially money) that has been accumulated—profit, income, earnings, gains, etc. The amount described or referred to as gross is everything that has been taken in, not accounting for things like debts, deductions, and expenses. The amount described or referred to as net is how much you have left after you’ve subtracted anything that doesn’t count toward profit, like debts and expenses. In other words, net is basically gross minus whatever you owe or have spent. For this reason, net is always lower than gross. For example, let’s say you decide to sell cupcakes at a bake sale. You spend $15 on ingredients, and you have to rent a table for $5, which equals $20 in expenses. Good news, you make $50 in cupcake sales. Your gross is $50. Minus the $20 in expenses, your net is $30. You could say you grossed $50 and netted $30. To remember the difference, remember that a net sifts whatever goes into it so that only some remains. Here’s an example of gross and net used correctly in the same sentence. Example: For this quarter, gross income was $2 million, but $1. 25 million in expenses and outstanding debts resulted in a net of only $750,000. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between gross and net.
See flagrant.
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French gros “large” (as noun, grosse “twelve dozen”), from Late Latin gross(us) “thick, coarse”
Get ready, because gross has a few different meanings. When something is gross, it's disgusting. The noun, a gross, is the complete amount (before expenses), and the verb "to gross" is to bring in money. Two things will tell you which meaning is the right one with a word like gross: the part of speech and the context. If you're talking about awful, sickening, vile things, you're looking at the adjective gross. If you're referring to, say, how much money a movie made, that's the noun gross; but remember, the gross is how much the movie made in total, not how much it cleared in profit after expenses (the net). As a noun, gross can also be a unit of measurement: if your teacher orders a gross of pencils, he'll get a shipment of 12 dozen. The verb to gross means to pull in money, as in: the bake sale grossed 30 dollar.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
LA28 officials point to an analysis by the Southern California Assn. of Governments that projected the Games will generate more than $17 billion in gross domestic product for the region.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Canada’s industry-level gross domestic product rose 0.3% in May, building on an upwardly revised 0.6% advance a month prior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Memory cost pressures are also showing up in Apple’s margins: Excluding tariff refunds, Apple’s gross margin actually declined 120 basis points quarter over quarter.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Thursday, the EV maker reported a second-quarter gross profit of $170 million.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
I was almost 100 percent sure that Erlan thought bugs were gross.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
"The combination of 'Spider-Man' and 'The Odyssey' -- a legacy superhero sequel and a big original production -- is taking the box office to new highs by a comfortable margin," Gross said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Early backers included Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison, as well as Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman, who are both currently helping lead Meta Platform’s AI efforts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Gross profit—a closely watched metric of pricing power and profitability—came in at 521.1 million euros, generating a 51.9% margin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Gross called the opening "very good for the genre."
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
"Gross," he moaned when he opened it and actually saw the chunks of slippery purple meat.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Today it is mostly flourishing: Broadway is among the country’s major tourist attractions, even if the mighty grosses logged by the big hits disguise the medium’s precarious finances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
His six-location theater chain’s revenue projections for January and February were tracking ahead of 2024’s weak theatrical grosses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
It really needed a boost, because its grosses have been anemic — last week it grossed $288,102, which is unsustainably low for a Broadway musical.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
"A sweeping story about the ethical dilemma of nuclear weapons grosses $1bn?" he joked of the film, which admittedly hadn't sounded punter-friendly on paper.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2024
The thought of the false teeth currently chillin’ in their purple glitter container inside G’ma’s purse almost grosses Scoob out as much as the oysters.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
While Lord Wynstowe fusses around measuring chins and noses, Charlie and Alice are concerned with the grosser features of the human body.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
In a world where it seems everything seems grosser and scammier all the time, we should be glad that there’s at least one star who is doing well by selling positivity.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2025
Tom Cruise always has the answer, though: the top grosser of the day was Top Gun: Maverick, which added about $6 million to its box office haul.
From The Verge ● Sep. 5, 2022
The theatrical exclusive “West Side Story” is the second-highest domestic grosser of the nominees with only $37 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2022
If anybody committed any of the grosser errors —such as putting metal on metal or colour on colour—he became electrified with passion.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Judge Patrick Lynch KC told the former teacher that he had violated the trust placed in him "in the grossest manner".
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
His book, "Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy," has become an Amazon bestseller because he's promoted by the grossest people on the internet.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2023
HBO Max just launched its rebrand in just about the grossest way possible, Sam Adams writes.
From Slate ● May 25, 2023
Award-winning singer and author Meghan Trainor stops by the Los Angeles Times Studio at the Festival of Books to talk motherhood, writing and the grossest thing about kids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
Being in charge of the bathroom pass sounded like the grossest job in the whole world.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
With an additional $353 million overseas, the film has already grossed $640 million worldwide.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Oppenheimer” grossed a phenomenal $976 million and won seven Oscars including best picture and director.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The original 2016 animated “Moana” grossed $643.3 million and became the most watched movie of all time on Disney+.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The original 2016 animated movie brought in more than $643 million worldwide and is the most-watched movie on Disney+, while a 2024 sequel grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
I couldn’t tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
Disney’s live-action remake of “Moana” flopped at the box office, grossing an estimated $95 million globally against a $250 million production cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
That film is currently the highest grossing film of the year, taking in more than $1bn.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Variety said it represents Focus Features' highest grossing film of all time and noted that it has now had four consecutive weekends above its "already-impressive $17 million debut."
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
But “Stronger” returned dismal numbers at the box office, grossing just $7.7 million on a $30 million budget.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
I figured she was grossing me out as revenge for not eating her chicken dinner.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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.
