gloss

gloss¹

—glossless, adj.

/glos, glaws/, n.

1. a superficial luster or shine; glaze: the gloss of satin.

2. a false or deceptively good appearance.

3. Also, glosser. a cosmetic that adds sheen or luster, esp. one for the lips.

v.t.

4. to put a gloss upon.

5. to give a false or deceptively good appearance to: to gloss over flaws in the woodwork.

[1530-40; prob. akin to D gloos glowing, MHG glosen to glow, shine, Sw dial. glysa to shine]

Syn. 1. See polish. 2. front, pretense.

gloss²

—glossingly, adv.

/glos, glaws/, n.

1. an explanation or translation, by means of a marginal or interlinear note, of a technical or unusual expression in a manuscript text.

2. a series of verbal interpretations of a text.

3. a glossary.

4. an artfully misleading interpretation.

v.t.

5. to insert glosses on; annotate.

6. to place (a word) in a gloss.

7. to give a specious interpretation of; explain away (often fol. by over or away): to gloss over a serious problem with a pat solution.

v.i.

8. to make glosses.

[1250-1300; (n.) ME glose ( < OF glose) < ML glosa, gloza < Gk glôssa word requiring explanation, lit., language, tongue; (v.) ME glosen < ML glossare, deriv. of glosa; cf. GLOZE, reflecting OF pron. of verb]

Syn. 1. comment, annotation. 2. commentary, critique, exegesis, explication. 5. explain, interpret, analyze, explicate.

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