- glass
-
I. noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English glas, from Old English glæs; akin to Old English geolu yellow — more at yellow
Date: before 12th century
1. any of various amorphous materials formed from a melt by cooling to rigidity without crystallization: as
a. a usually transparent or translucent material consisting typically of a mixture of silicates
b. a material (as obsidian) produced by fast cooling of magma
2.
a. something made of glass: as
(1) tumbler; also glassware
(2) mirror
(3) barometer
(4) hourglass
(5) backboard 1
b.
(1) an optical instrument or device that has one or more lenses and is designed to aid in the viewing of objects not readily seen
(2) field glasses, binoculars — usually used in plural
c. plural a device used to correct defects of vision or to protect the eyes that consists typically of a pair of glass or plastic lenses and the frame by which they are held in place — called also eyeglasses, spectacles
3. the quantity held by a glass container
4. fiberglass
• glassful noun
• glassless adjective
II. verb
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1.
a. to provide with glass ; glaze 1
b. to enclose, case, or wall with glass <the sunroom was glassed in> 2. to make glassy 3. a. reflect b. to see mirrored 4. to look at through an optical instrument (as binoculars) intransitive verb glaze I,1
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.