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floss

Pronunciation: /flɒs/

The English word “floss” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
  2. Raw silk fibres.
  3. The fibres covering a corncob etc.; the loose downy or silky material inside the husks of certain plants, such as beans.
  4. Any thread-like material having parallel strands that are not spun or wound around each other.
  5. Spun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
  6. A body feather of an ostrich.
  7. A dance move in which the dancer repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on each side.
  8. A small stream of water.
  9. Fluid glass floating on iron in the puddling furnace, produced by the vitrification of oxides and earths which are present.
  10. The common rush (Juncus effusus).

verb

  1. To clean the area between (the teeth) using floss.
  2. To show off, especially by exhibiting one's wealth or talent.
  3. To perform the floss dance move.

Etymology

Unclear: * Possibly from French floche (“tuft of wool”), from floc, from Old French flosche (“down, velvet”), from Latin floccus (“piece of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokkō (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkô (“down, piece of wool, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”). * Or, from Middle English *flos (attested in Middle English Flosmonger (a…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.