▪ I. glaze, n.
(gleɪz)
[f. glaze v.1; the n. is not in Johnson.]
1. The vitreous composition used for glazing pottery, etc.
| 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 493 The glaze employed to cover vessels of stoneware may be distinguished into three kinds. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1016 When it reaches the melting point of the glaze. 1881 Porcelain Works, Worcester 15 The materials for the Glaze of English porcelain are ground flint, Cornish stone, borax, lead, &c. |
2. gen. A transparent substance used for coating anything, so as to produce a glazed or lustrous surface. spec. in Cookery (see quot. 1877); also of a glaze, of the consistency of glaze.
| 1784 H. Glasse Cookery ii. 74 (Fowl à la Braise) Strain the sauce, and after you have skimmed off the fat, boil it down till it is of a glaze. 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery, Glaze is made from clear stock, boiled down until it forms a sort of meat varnish or strong jelly; it is used to improve the appearance of many dishes. 1880 Print. Trades Jrnl. No. 30. 39 Mix with glaze slightly diluted. |
3. A smooth and glossy surface, a bright polished appearance.
| 1791 Cowper Iliad xviii. 741 Glossy as the glaze of oil. 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xvi. 335 The fine yellow glaze appropriate to meat pies is given with beaten yolk of egg. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 223/1 The result is a beautiful transparent glaze. 1881 Greener Gun 313 Dense hard powder will take a higher glaze than the softer kinds. |
4. U.S. A coating or covering of ice; also, a stretch of ice.
| 1752 J. MacSparran Amer. Dissected (1753) 39, I rode 30 Miles upon one continued Glaze of Ice upon the Land. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 215 Whenever the winter..sets in with rain, so as to cover the branches and leaves of trees with a glaze of ice. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxviii. (1856) 229 Old seasoned hummock, covered with a slippery glaze. 1858 Thoreau Maine W. (1894) 187 They [moose] cannot run on a ‘glaze’, though they can run in snow four feet deep; but the caribou can run on ice. |
5. Painting. A thin coat of transparent colour laid over another colour so as to modify the tone.
| 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. viii. iv. 193 note, In cleaning the ‘Hero and Leander’..these upper glazes were taken off and only the black ground left. 1885 Mag. Art Sept. 471/2 The employment..of glazes which are dull and have little more reflective power than paint. |
6. slang. A window. on, upon the glaze: robbing jewellers' shops after smashing the windows.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Glaze, the Window. 1719 Alex. Smith Lives Highwaymen II. 43 At Dublin, he [Jack Waldron] went upon the Glaze, which is robbing Goldsmiths Shew-Glasses on their Stalls, by cutting them..with a Glazier's Diamond; or else waiting for a Coach coming by, breaking 'em with the hand. 1743 Discov. J. Poulter (ed. 2) 39 Undub the Jeger, and jump the Glaze. 1823 Moncrieff Tom & Jerry iii. ii, Jerry. What are you about, Tom? Tom. I'm going to mill the glaze—I'll ― (Is about to break the Glass, when [etc.]). |
7. attrib. and Comb., as glaze liquor; glaze-ice U.S., thin surface ice; glaze-kiln, a kiln in which glazed ware is placed for firing; glaze-wheel, a wooden wheel used by cutlers for polishing knives, etc.; glaze-work = glazing vbl. n.; glaze-worm [? f. glaze v.1], a glow-worm: cf. glassworm.
| 1896 N.Y. Weekly Witness 23 Dec. 4/1 Much of the ice was *glaze-ice. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1015 *Glaze-kiln. This is usually smaller than the biscuit kiln. |
| Ibid. 1017 The piece of ware..is immersed in the *glaze liquor. |
| 1853 O. Byrne Handbk. Artizan 451 The cutlers' wood or *glaze wheels are mostly fed with emery cake. |
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 190 Colours for potters' *glaze-work. |
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 91 Dost thou not know yat a perfect friend should be like the *Glaze-worme, which shineth most bright in the Dark? 1895 E. Angl. Gloss., Glaze-worm, glow-worm. |
▪ II. glaze, v.1
(gleɪz)
Forms: 4–5 glase-n, (5 glacyn, glaysse), 4–7 glase, 6– glaze.
[ME. glasen, f. glas glass n.1 Cf. MHG. glasen, and glass v.]
1. trans. To fit or fill in (a window, etc.) with glass, to furnish (a building) with windows of glass, to cover (a picture, etc.) with glass. to glaze in: to enclose with glass. † to glaze one's houve: to provide with a head-covering of glass, hence app. to mock, delude, befool (see houve).
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 50 Woldustow glase the gable and graue therinne thi nome, Siker schulde thi soule ben for to dwellen in heuene. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 323 With glas Were all the wyndowes well yglased. c 1374 ― Troylus v. 469 Fortune his howve entended bet to glase [cf. ii. 867]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 198/1 Glasyn' wythe glasse, vitro, vel vitrio. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvii. x, The rofe was wrought, curyously and well; The wyndowes glased marvaylously to tell. 1577 Harrison England ii. xii. (1877) i. 237 The houses of our princes..were often glased with Berill. 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. ii. xxxvi. (1631) 123 The soule hath nothing, no not her windowes glased. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 406 Raph Astrie..new roofed this Church..and beautifully glased it. 1667 Primatt City & C. Build. 83 For glasing the two windows. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 162 This instrument is subscribed by John Codurz..and some others. It is glased for its better preservation, it being certainly a piece which should by all means be transmitted to posterity. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 53 The windows are so well glazed, as not to admit the least air. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. ii. 204 Persons..have baskets of glass of various sizes sent to them from the towns, and glaze their own windows. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 668 Greater facility for repairing or glazing than those [lamps] of the ordinary sort. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic li, Somebody saw a portrait framed and glazed At Croisic. 1885 Times (weekly ed.) 11 Dec. 17/2 The back wall on either side of the central door is glazed in and forms a case in which is arranged a vast collection of ancient arms and armour. |
2. To cover (the surface of pottery, etc.) with a vitreous substance which is fixed by fusion. Also, to vitrify the surface of.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 187 Sette hem..in a vessel of erþe glasid wiþinne. 1460–70 Bk. Quintessence 5 Take what vessel of glas þat ȝe wole, or of erþe strongly glasid. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 97 A newe earthen pot not glased. a 1691 Boyle Wks. (1744) I. 207/2 An ore, which for its aptness to vitrify, and serve the potters to glaze their earthern vessels, the miners call pottern-ore. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. ix. 143, I had no notion..of glazing them [pots] with lead. 1764 Harmer Observ. ix. iii. 100 Green and blue bricks which are glazed, so that when the sun shines, the eye is perfectly dazzled. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 483 The bamboo, or cane-coloured pottery..is never glazed outside. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. xvii. 373 A few fragments of granite, curiously glazed and altered by the heat. 1881 Porcelain Works, Worcester 27 The process of glazing is simple, but requires a practised hand so that every piece may be equally glazed. |
b. fig. To cover as with a glaze, to gloss over.
| 1605 Chapman All Fooles ii. i. D 1 b, The fond world Like to a doting Mother glases ouer Her childrens imperfections with fine tearmes. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 443 ¶4 By putting forth base Methods in a good Light, and glazing them over with improper Terms. |
c. To fix (paint) on pottery by this process. Similarly (nonce-use), to throw (light) like a glaze on
| 1807 T. Thomson Chem. II. 503 The vessel being now baked, the paint is glazed on. a 1861 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady (1863) 35 Her window now is darkness, save the sheen Glazed on it by the moon. |
3. To overlay or cover with a smooth and lustrous coating. Also, to cover (the eyes) with a film.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 16 For sorrowes eye, glazed with blinding teares, Diuides one thing intire, to many obiects. 1613 Heywood Silver Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 92 That I may glaze my harpe in the bloud Of Tyrant Pretus. 1632 ― 1st Pt. Iron Age ii. ibid. 293 A field glazd with swords. 1653 Cloria & Narcissus i. 90 Thus he continued glasing his sight, all the while, with the troubled water of sorrowfull teares. 1666 J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isl. 121 The delightful smoothness wherewith they [Venus-shells] are glaz'd both within and without. 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Trav. ii. 63 A great Plain of very smooth whitish ground, glazed over with Salt. 1773 Cook Voy. (1777) I. ii. iii. 219 As they have a method of glazing it [cloth], it is more durable, and will resist rain for some time, which Otaheite cloth will not. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. iii. i, Each throat was parched, and glazed each eye. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. viii, Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 51 His eyes are heavy: think not they are glazed with wine. 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xvi. 335 To glaze or ice pastry. 1885 Manch. Exam. 5 June 5/6 Messrs. Farmer's apparatus..for chasing, glazing, and embossing cloth. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 613 Tawed leather..is glazed in the same manner..with the exception that the glazing fluid is applied twice. |
| fig. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such 137 Some minds seem well glazed by nature against the admission of knowledge. |
b. esp. of frost, etc. Also with over, up.
| 1627 May Lucan i. 20 Where winter..With lasting cold doth glaze the Scythian seas. 1638 Cowley Love's Riddle iv. Wks. 1711 III. 118 Where a perpetual Winter binds the Ground And glazeth up the Floods? 1725 Pope Odyss. xiv. 537 Snow whitening all the fields Froze with the blast, and gath'ring glaz'd our shields. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 182 Cold, whose icy breath glazed yearly the Russian seas. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 179 The sound presented a novel spectacle to us; the young ice glazing it over. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 337 A sharp wind-frost had..glazed the fallows. |
4. Painting. To cover (a painted surface) with a thin coat of a different transparent colour, so as to modify the tone without mixing. Also, to lay (a transparent colour) over another.
| 1622 Peacham Compl. Gentl. xiii. (1634) 133 When it is dry glaze it over with a little Lake. 1658 W. Sanderson Graphice 83 All Stones..must be glazed upon silver, with their proper colours, with a varnish. 1672 Beale in H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1782) III. 128 He glazed the whole place, where the face and haire were drawn in a colour over thin. 1695 Dryden tr. Du Fresnoy's Art Paint. Observ. ¶382 White with other strong Colours, with which we paint at once that which we intend to glaze, are as it were the Life, the Spirit, and the Lustre of it. 1798 Trans. Soc. Arts XVI. 298, I glazed the proper colours over it. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. (1848) I. ii. ii. ii. §17. 166 Red..mixed with the pure blue, or glazed over it. |
5. To make to shine like glass; to give a smooth glassy surface to (anything), esp. by rubbing; to polish, to render brilliant.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 197/1 Glacyn or make a þy(n)ge to shyne, pernitido. 1515 Barclay Egloges ii. (1570) B i/1 For lacke of vsing, a sworde earst glased bright With rust is eaten. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. viii. 211 He..Lyes streaking brawny limmes in weakning bed, Perfum'd, smooth kemb'd, new glaz'd. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iii. ii, There stands a neophyte glazing of his face, Pruning his clothes, perfuming of his hair, Against his idol enters. 1639 in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Ser. ii. XIV. 373 Blacke Marble ritchly glaszd. 1648 Boyle Seraph. Love (1660) 155 Like polish'd Silver, or well glaz'd Arms. 1715 Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 10 Polishing and glazing even to the very Channelling or Flutes of the Columns. 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy III. xlii, So worn, so glazed..was it with fingers. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 240 You may glaze powder and make it so smooth that it would be very difficult to ignite. 1881 ― Gun 313 The next process is to glaze or polish the individual grains [of gunpowder]. |
b. Cutlery manufacture. (See quot.)
| 1888 Sheffield Gloss., Glaze, to roughly polish a knife. This is an intermediate process between grinding and polishing. |
6. intr. To become glazed, assume a glassy appearance.
| 1747 H. Glasse Cookery i. 30 Put in a Ladleful of Gravy, boil it and strain it..and then put in the Sweet⁓breads to glaze. 1883 H. George Soc. Probl. ix. (1884) 119 What shall it matter, when eyeballs glaze and ears grow dull, if [etc.]. 1889 Opelousas (Louisiana) Democrat Dec., The crop is usually cut for ensilage purposes when the ears are commencing to ‘glaze’. 1895 Ramshorn (Chicago) 8 June 3 Gradually his eyes glazed and closed. |
▪ III. glaze, v.2 Obs. exc. dial.
[Cf. gaze, glare.]
intr. To stare.
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 21 Against the Capitoll I met a Lyon Who glaz'd vpon me, and went surly by. a 1816 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Middlesex Election i. Wks. 1816 IV. 172 O Lord, my lord, I'm in a maze, I do so look about and glaze. 1880 E. Cornw. Gloss., Glaze, to stare. |