Adjacent Words

Glass definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GL`ASS, n. [L. glastum; glesid, blueness. Greenness is usually named from vegetation or growing, as L. viridis, from vireo.]
1. A hard, brittle, transparent, factitious substance, formed by fusing sand with fixed alkalies.
In chimistry, a substance or mixture, earthy, saline or metallic, brought by fusion to the state of a hard, brittle, transparent mass, whose fracture is conchoidal.
2. A glass vessel of any kind; as a drinking glass.
3. A mirror; a looking-glass.
4. A vessel to be filled with sand for measuring time; as an hour-glass.
5. The destined time of man's life. His glass is run.
6. The quantity of liquor that a glass vessel contains. Drink a glass of wine with me.
7. A vessel that shows the weight of the air.
8. A perspective glass; as an optic glass.
9. The time which a glass runs, or in which it is exhausted of sand. The seamen's watch-glass is half an hour. We say, a ship fought three glasses.
10. Glasses, in the plural, spectacles.
GL`ASS, a. Made of glass; vitreous; as a glass bottle.
GL`ASS, v.t. To see as in a glass. [Not used.]
1. To case in glass. [Little used.]
2. To cover with glass; to glaze.
[In the latter sense, glaze is generally used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
2: a container for holding liquids while drinking [syn: glass, drinking glass]
3: the quantity a glass will hold [syn: glass, glassful]
4: a small refracting telescope [syn: field glass, glass, spyglass]
5: an amphetamine derivative (trade name Methedrine) used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant [syn: methamphetamine, methamphetamine hydrochloride, Methedrine, meth, deoxyephedrine, chalk, chicken feed, crank, glass, ice, shabu, trash]
6: a mirror; usually a ladies' dressing mirror [syn: looking glass, glass]
7: glassware collectively; "She collected old glass" v
1: furnish with glass; "glass the windows" [syn: glass, glaze]
2: scan (game in the forest) with binoculars
3: enclose with glass; "glass in a porch" [syn: glass, glass in]
4: put in a glass container
5: become glassy or take on a glass-like appearance; "Her eyes glaze over when she is bored" [syn: glaze, glass, glass over, glaze over]

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Carter 1858-1946 American statesman II. biographical name Philip 1937- American composer

Merriam Webster's

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

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., v., & adj. --n. 1 a (often attrib.) a hard, brittle, usu. transparent, translucent, or shiny substance, made by fusing sand with soda and lime and sometimes other ingredients (a glass jug) (cf. crown glass, flint glass, plate glass). b a substance of similar properties or composition. 2 (often collect.) an object or objects made from, or partly from, glass, esp.: a a drinking vessel. b a mirror; a looking-glass. c an hour- or sand-glass. d a window. e a greenhouse (rows of lettuce under glass). f glass ornaments. g a barometer. h a glass disc covering a watch-face. i a magnifying lens. j a monocle. 3 (in pl.) a spectacles. b field-glasses; opera-glasses. 4 the amount of liquid contained in a glass; a drink (he likes a glass). --v.tr. 1 (usu. as glassed adj.) fit with glass; glaze. 2 poet. reflect as in a mirror. 3 Mil. look at or for with field-glasses. --adj. of or made from glass. Phrases and idioms: glass-blower a person who blows semi-molten glass to make glassware. glass-blowing this occupation. glass case an exhibition display case made mostly from glass. glass-cloth 1 a linen cloth for drying glasses. 2 a cloth covered with powdered glass or abrasive, like glass-paper. glass cloth a woven fabric of fine-spun glass. glass-cutter 1 a worker who cuts glass. 2 a tool used for cutting glass. glass eye a false eye made from glass. glass fibre 1 a filament or filaments of glass made into fabric. 2 such filaments embedded in plastic as reinforcement. glass-gall = SANDIVER. glass-making the manufacture of glass. glass-paper paper covered with glass-dust or abrasive and used for smoothing and polishing. glass snake any snakelike lizard of the genus Ophisaurus, with a very brittle tail. glass wool glass in the form of fine fibres used for packing and insulation. has had a glass too much is rather drunk. Derivatives: glassful n. (pl. -fuls). glassless adj. glasslike adj. Etymology: OE glæs f. Gmc: cf. GLAZE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Glass Glass, n. [OE. glas, gles, AS. gl[ae]s; akin to D., G., Dan., & Sw. glas, Icel. glas, gler, Dan. glar; cf. AS. gl[ae]r amber, L. glaesum. Cf. Glare, n., Glaze, v. t.] 1. A hard, brittle, translucent, and commonly transparent substance, white or colored, having a conchoidal fracture, and made by fusing together sand or silica with lime, potash, soda, or lead oxide. It is used for window panes and mirrors, for articles of table and culinary use, for lenses, and various articles of ornament. Note: Glass is variously colored by the metallic oxides; thus, manganese colors it violet; copper (cuprous), red, or (cupric) green; cobalt, blue; uranium, yellowish green or canary yellow; iron, green or brown; gold, purple or red; tin, opaque white; chromium, emerald green; antimony, yellow. 2. (Chem.) Any substance having a peculiar glassy appearance, and a conchoidal fracture, and usually produced by fusion. 3. Anything made of glass. Especially: (a) A looking-glass; a mirror. (b) A vessel filled with running sand for measuring time; an hourglass; and hence, the time in which such a vessel is exhausted of its sand. She would not live The running of one glass. --Shak. (c) A drinking vessel; a tumbler; a goblet; hence, the contents of such a vessel; especially; spirituous liquors; as, he took a glass at dinner. (d) An optical glass; a lens; a spyglass; -- in the plural, spectacles; as, a pair of glasses; he wears glasses. (e) A weatherglass; a barometer. Note: Glass is much used adjectively or in combination; as, glass maker, or glassmaker; glass making or glassmaking; glass blower or glassblower, etc. Bohemian glass, Cut glass, etc. See under Bohemian, Cut, etc. Crown glass, a variety of glass, used for making the finest plate or window glass, and consisting essentially of silicate of soda or potash and lime, with no admixture of lead; the convex half of an achromatic lens is composed of crown glass; -- so called from a crownlike shape given it in the process of blowing. Crystal glass, or Flint glass. See Flint glass, in the Vocabulary. Cylinder glass, sheet glass made by blowing the glass in the form of a cylinder which is then split longitudinally, opened out, and flattened. Glass of antimony, a vitreous oxide of antimony mixed with sulphide. Glass blower, one whose occupation is to blow and fashion glass. Glass blowing, the art of shaping glass, when reduced by heat to a viscid state, by inflating it through a tube. Glass cloth, a woven fabric formed of glass fibers. Glass coach, a coach superior to a hackney-coach, hired for the day, or any short period, as a private carriage; -- so called because originally private carriages alone had glass windows. [Eng.] --Smart. Glass coaches are [allowed in English parks from which ordinary hacks are excluded], meaning by this term, which is never used in America, hired carriages that do not go on stands. --J. F. Cooper. Glass cutter. (a) One who cuts sheets of glass into sizes for window panes, ets. (b) One who shapes the surface of glass by grinding and polishing. (c) A tool, usually with a diamond at the point, for cutting glass. Glass cutting. (a) The act or process of dividing glass, as sheets of glass into panes with a diamond. (b) The act or process of shaping the surface of glass by appylying it to revolving wheels, upon which sand, emery, and, afterwards, polishing powder, are applied; especially of glass which is shaped into facets, tooth ornaments, and the like. Glass having ornamental scrolls, etc., cut upon it, is said to be engraved. Glass metal, the fused material for making glass. Glass painting, the art or process of producing decorative effects in glass by painting it with enamel colors and combining the pieces together with slender sash bars of lead or other metal. In common parlance, glass painting and glass staining (see Glass staining, below) are used indifferently for all colored decorative work in windows, and the like. Glass paper, paper faced with pulvirezed glass, and used for abrasive purposes. Glass silk, fine threads of glass, wound, when in fusion, on rapidly rotating heated cylinders. Glass silvering, the process of transforming plate glass into mirrors by coating it with a reflecting surface, a deposit of silver, or a mercury amalgam. Glass soap, or Glassmaker's soap, the black oxide of manganese or other substances used by glass makers to take away color from the materials for glass. Glass staining, the art or practice of coloring glass in its whole substance, or, in the case of certain colors, in a superficial film only; also, decorative work in glass. Cf. Glass painting. Glass tears. See Rupert's drop. Glass works, an establishment where glass is made. Heavy glass, a heavy optical glass, consisting essentially of a borosilicate of potash. Millefiore glass. See Millefiore. Plate glass, a fine kind of glass, cast in thick plates, and flattened by heavy rollers, -- used for mirrors and the best windows. Pressed glass, glass articles formed in molds by pressure when hot. Soluble glass (Chem.), a silicate of sodium or potassium, found in commerce as a white, glassy mass, a stony powder, or dissolved as a viscous, sirupy liquid; -- used for rendering fabrics incombustible, for hardening artificial stone, etc.; -- called also water glass. Spun glass, glass drawn into a thread while liquid. Toughened glass, Tempered glass, glass finely tempered or annealed, by a peculiar method of sudden cooling by plunging while hot into oil, melted wax, or paraffine, etc.; -- called also, from the name of the inventor of the process, Bastie glass. Water glass. (Chem.) See Soluble glass, above. Window glass, glass in panes suitable for windows.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Glass Glass, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Glassed; p. pr. & vb. n. Glassing.] 1. To reflect, as in a mirror; to mirror; -- used reflexively. Happy to glass themselves in such a mirror. --Motley. Where the Almighty's form glasses itself in tempests. --Byron. 2. To case in glass. [R.] --Shak. 3. To cover or furnish with glass; to glaze. --Boyle. 4. To smooth or polish anything, as leater, by rubbing it with a glass burnisher.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(glasses) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Glass is a hard transparent substance that is used to make things such as windows and bottles. ...a pane of glass. ...a sliding glass door. 2. A glass is a container made from glass, which you can drink from and which does not have a handle. Grossman raised the glass to his lips. N-COUNT • The contents of a glass can be referred to as a glass of something. ...a glass of milk. N-COUNT: usu N of n 3. Glass is used to mean objects made of glass, for example drinking containers and bowls. There's a glittering array of glass to choose from at markets. N-UNCOUNT 4. Glasses are two lenses in a frame that some people wear in front of their eyes in order to help them see better. He took off his glasses. N-PLURAL 5. see also dark glasses, magnifying glass

Easton's Bible Dictionary

was known to the Egyptians at a very early period of their national history, at least B.C. 1500. Various articles both useful and ornamental were made of it, as bottles, vases, etc. A glass bottle with the name of Sargon on it was found among the ruins of the north-west palace of Nimroud. The Hebrew word _zekukith_ (Job 28:17), rendered in the Authorized Version "crystal," is rightly rendered in the Revised Version "glass." This is the only allusion to glass found in the Old Testament. It is referred to in the New Testament in Rev. 4:6; 15:2; 21:18, 21. In Job 37:18, the word rendered "looking-glass" is in the Revised Version properly rendered "mirror," formed, i.e., of some metal. (Comp. Ex. 38:8: "looking-glasses" are brazen mirrors, R.V.). A mirror is referred to also in James 1:23.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

glas (zekhukhith; hualos):

1. History:

Glass is of great antiquity. The story of its discovery by accident, as related by Pliny (NH, xxxvi.65), is apocryphal, but it was natural for the Greeks and Romans to ascribe it to the Phoenicians, since they were the producers of the article as known to them. The Egyptian monuments have revealed to us the manufacture in a time so remote that it must have preceded that of the Phoenicians. A representation of glass-blowing on monuments of the Old Empire, as formerly supposed, is now regarded as doubtful, but undoubted examples of glazed pottery of that age exist. A fragment of blue glass has been found inscribed with the name of Antef III, of the XIth Dynasty, dating from 2000 or more BC (Davis, Ancient Egypt, 324). The oldest dated bottle, or vase, is one bearing the name of Thothmes III, 1500 or more BC, and numerous examples occur of later date. The close connection between Egypt and Syria from the time of Thothmes on must have made glass known in the latter country, and the Phoenicians, so apt in all lines of trade and manufacture, naturally seized on glass-making as a most profitable art and they became very proficient in it. The earliest glass was not very transparent, since they did not know how to free the materials used from impurities. It had a greenish or purplish tinge, and a large part of the examples we have of Phoenician glass exhibit this. But we have many examples of blue, red and yellow varieties which were purposely colored, and others quite opaque and of a whitish color, resembling porcelain (Perrot and Chipiez, Art in Ancient Phoenicia and Its Dependencies). But both they and the Egyptians made excellent transparent glass also, and decorated it with brilliant coloring on the surface (ib; Beni Hasan, Archeol. Survey of Egypt, Pt IV). Layard (Nineveh and Babylon) mentions a vase of transparent glass bearing the name of Sargon (522-505 BC), and glass was early known to the Babylonians.

2. Manufacture:

Phoenicia was the great center, and the quantities found in tombs of Syria and Palestine go to confirm the statement that this was one of the great industries of this people, to which ancient authors testify (Strabo, Geog.; Pliny, NH). Josephus refers to the sand of the Belus as that from which glass was made (BJ, II, x, 2). It seems to have been especially adapted for the purpose, but there are other places on the coast where plenty of suitable sand could be obtained. The potash required was obtained by burning certain marine and other plants, and saltpeter, or niter, was also employed. The manufacture began centuries BC on this coast, and in the 12th century AD a factory is mentioned as still being worked at Tyre, and the manufacture was later carried on at Hebron, even down to recent times (Perrot and Chipiez).

Both the Egyptians and Phoenicians gained such proficiency in making transparent and colored glass that they imitated precious stones with such skill as to deceive the unwary. Necklaces are found composed of a mixture of real brilliants and glass imitations. Cut glass was manufactured in Egypt as early as the XVIIIth Dynasty, and diamonds were made use of in the article Glass composed of different colors in the same piece was made by placing layers of glass wire, of different colors, one above the other and then fusing them so thar they became united in a solid mass without intermingling. Colored designs on the surface were produced by tracing the patterns, while the glass was still warm and plastic, deep enough to receive the threads of colored glass which were imbedded in them. The whole was heated again sufficiently to fuse the threads and attach them to the body. The surface was then made even by perishing. By this process vessels and ornaments of very beautiful design were produced. Many of the specimens, as found, are covered by an exquisite iridescence which is due wholly to the decomposition of the surface by chemical action, from lying buried for centuries in the soil which thus acts upon it. This is often lost in handling by the scaling off of the outer surface.

Glass, in the strict sense, is rarely mentioned in Scripture, but it was certainly known to the Hebrews, and occurs in Job 28:17 (translated "crystal" in the King James Version). Bottles, cups and other vessels in glass must have been in use to some extent. The wine cup of Pr 23:31 and the bottle for tears mentioned in Ps 56:8 were most likely of glass. Tear bottles are found in great quantities in the tombs throughout the land and were undoubtedly connected with funeral rites, the mourners collecting their tears and placing them in these bottles to be buried with the dead. As mourners were hired for the purpose, the number of these bottles would indicate the extent to which the deceased was honored. These were, of course, small, some quite diminutive (see illustration), as also were the vials or pots to contain the ointment for the eyebrows and eyelashes, used to heighten the beauty of the women, which was probably a custom among the Hebrews as well as their neighbors. Rings, bracelets and anklets of glass are very common and were doubtless worn by the Hebrew women (see Isa 3:18 f). In the New Testament the Greek hualos occurs in Re 21:18,21, and the adjective derived from it hualinos in 4:6 and 15:2. In the other passages, where in the King James Version "glass" occurs, the reference is to "looking-glass," or mirror, which was not made of glass, but of bronze, and polished so as to reflect the light similar to glass. The Hebrew word for this is gillayon (Isa 3:23), or mar'ah (Ex 38:8), and the Greek esoptron (1Co 13:12; Jas 1:23; compare The Wisdom of Solomon 7:26; Sirach 12:11).

The composition of the Phoenician glass varies considerably. The analysis shows that, besides the ordinary constituents of silica, lime, lead, potash or soda, other elements are found, some being used for the purpose of coloring, such as manganese to give the purplish or violet hue, cobalt for blue, copper for red, etc. The articles illustrated above are of ordinary transparent glass with an iridescent surface, caused by decomposition, as mentioned above, indicated by the scaly appearance. Numbers 1, 4 and 5 are tear bottles, number 4 being only 1 3/4 inches in height; numbers 2 and 3 are ointment vases which were used for the ointment with which ladies were accustomed to color their eyebrows and eyelashes to enhance their beauty. This custom still prevails in the East. The small ladle by the side of the larger vase is of bronze, used in applying the ointment. This vase is double and 6 3/4 inches high, ornamented with glass wire wound upon it while plastic. The larger vases (numbers 6 and 7) are about 6 inches in height. The hand-mirror ("looking-glass" the King James Version) is bronze, and had originally a polished surface, but is now corroded.

H. Porter

Moby Thesaurus

CM-glass, CR-glass, achromatic lens, adobe, aerological instrument, agate glass, alabaster, aneroid barometer, aneroidograph, astigmatic lens, barograph, barometer, barometrograph, beaker, bifocals, bijouterie, billiard table, binoculars, biscuit, bisque, blown glass, board, bottle glass, bowl, bowling alley, bowling green, brick, bubble, bullet-resisting glass, burning glass, camera, camphor glass, carnival glass, cement, ceramic ware, ceramics, cheval glass, china, clapboard, clear as glass, coated lens, concave lens, concave mirror, concavo-convex lens, condenser, convex lens, convex mirror, coralene, costume jewelry, crock, crockery, crown glass, crystal, cut glass, diaphane, display case, distorting mirror, eggshell, enamelware, eyeglass, eyeglasses, eyepiece, face, fiber glass, field glass, firebrick, flat, frosted glass, glass house, glasses, glasslike, glassware, glassy, glaze, goblet, goggles, ground glass, hand lens, hand mirror, house of cards, hurricane-hunter aircraft, hyalescent, hyaline, hygrometer, ice, image, ivory, jewelry, jug, junk jewelry, laminated glass, lath, lens, level, light, looking glass, lorgnette, lorgnon, magnifier, magnifying glass, mahogany, marble, matchwood, meniscus, mercury, microscope, mirror, object glass, objective, objective prism, ocular, old paper, opaline, opera glasses, pane, paper, parchment, paste, piecrust, pier glass, plane, plank, plate glass, porcelain, pot, pottery, prism, radiosonde, reader, reading glass, rear-view mirror, recording barometer, reflector, refractory, revet, rhinestone, safety glass, satin, scatter pins, scope, seeing glass, shake, shaving mirror, sheathe, shingle, shopwindow, showcase, silk, slate, slide, smooth, specs, spectacles, speculum, spy glass, spyglass, stained glass, stemware, stone, telephoto lens, telescope, tennis court, terrestrial telescope, thatch, thermal detector, thermometer, thermostat, tile, tiling, toric lens, transparent substance, trifocals, tumbler, urn, vacuometer, varifocal lens, vase, velvet, veneer, vitreous, vitrics, vitriform, vitrine, wall in, wall up, wallpaper, watch crystal, watch glass, weather balloon, weather instrument, weather satellite, weather vane, weatherboard, weatherglass, window, window glass, window mirror, windowlight, windowpane, zoom binoculars, zoom lens