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floss (flôs, flŏs)
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n.
1. Dental floss.
2. Short or waste silk fibers, especially from the outer surface of the cocoon of a silkworm.
3. Soft, loosely twisted thread, as of silk or cotton, used in embroidery.
4. A downy or silky fibrous substance, such as corn silk or silk cotton.
v. flossed, floss·ing, floss·es
v.tr.
To clean between (teeth) with dental floss.
v.intr.
To use dental floss.

[Perhaps alteration of French floche, tuft of wool, from Old French floc, floche, from Latin floccus.]

flosser n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.