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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

glass.

An amorphous solid, often transparent substance, usually made by melting silica sand with various additives (for most purposes, a mixture of soda, potash and lime is added).

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡlɑːs/Received-Pronunciation/ɡlæs/Canada, US[ɡlɛəs]Canada, US[ɡleəs]Canada, US
  1. An amorphous solid, often transparent substance, usually made by melting silica sand with various additives (for most purposes, a mixture of soda, potash and lime is added).

    uncountable · usually
    This tabletop is made of glass.
    A popular myth is that window glass is actually an extremely viscous liquid.
  2. Any amorphous solid (one without a regular crystal lattice).

    broadly · countable · uncountable
    Metal glasses, unlike those based on silica, are electrically conductive, which can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the application.
  3. A vessel from which one drinks, especially one made of glass, plastic, or similar translucent or semi-translucent material.

    countable
    Would you like a glass of wine?
    Fill my glass with milk, please.
  4. The quantity of liquid contained in such a vessel.

    countable · metonymically · uncountable
    There is half a glass of milk in each pound of chocolate we produce.
  5. Glassware.

    uncountable
    We collected art glass.
  6. A mirror.

    countable · uncountable
    She adjusted her lipstick in the glass.
  7. A magnifying glass or loupe.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A telescope.

    countable · uncountable
  9. A barrier made of solid, transparent material. The backboard.

    colloquial · countable · uncountable
    He caught the rebound off the glass.
  10. A barrier made of solid, transparent material. The clear, protective screen surrounding a hockey rink.

    countable · uncountable
    He fired the outlet pass off the glass.
  11. A barometer.

    countable · uncountable
  12. Transparent or translucent.

    attributive · countable · uncountable
    glass frog;  glass shrimp;  glass worm
  13. An hourglass.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  14. Lenses, considered collectively.

    informal · uncountable
    Her new camera was incompatible with her old one, so she needed to buy new glass.
  15. Synonym of window or pane, particularly in vehicles.

    archaic · countable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English glas, from Old English glæs, from Proto-West Germanic *glas, from Proto-Germanic *glasą, possibly related to Proto-Germanic *glōaną (“to shine”) (compare glow), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰleh₁- (“to shine, shimmer, glow”). Cognate with West Frisian glês, Low German and German Glas, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish glas, Norwegian Bokmål glass, Icelandic gler.

verb/ɡlɑːs/Received-Pronunciation/ɡlæs/Canada, US[ɡlɛəs]Canada, US[ɡleəs]Canada, US
  1. To fit with glass; to glaze.

    transitive
  2. To enclose in glass.

    transitive
  3. Clipping of fibreglass (“to fit, cover, fill, or build, with fibreglass-reinforced resin composite (fiberglass)”).

    abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · transitive
  4. To strike (someone), particularly in the face, with a drinking glass with the intent of causing injury.

    UK · colloquial · transitive
  5. To bombard an area (most often a planet) with such intensity (by means of a nuclear bomb, fusion bomb, etc) as to melt the landscape into glass.

    transitive
  6. To view through an optical instrument such as binoculars.

    transitive
  7. To smooth or polish (leather, etc.), by rubbing it with a glass burnisher.

    transitive
  8. To reflect; to mirror.

    archaic · reflexive
  9. To make glassy.

    transitive
  10. To become glassy.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English glas, from Old English glæs, from Proto-West Germanic *glas, from Proto-Germanic *glasą, possibly related to Proto-Germanic *glōaną (“to shine”) (compare glow), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰleh₁- (“to shine, shimmer, glow”). Cognate with West Frisian glês, Low German and German Glas, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish glas, Norwegian Bokmål glass, Icelandic gler.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.