▪ I. glass, n.1
(glɑːs, -æ-)
Forms: 1, 3 glæs, 2–4 gles(e, 4–7 glas, (4–5 glase), glasse, (5 glaas, glasce, 6 glace, glasshe, 9 Sc. glaas), 6– glass.
[OE. glæs str. neut. (? erron. masc. in Bæda's Eccl. Hist. v. v.) = OS. glas, gles (Du. glas), OHG. glas (MHG. and mod.G. glas):—OTeut. *gláso{supm}; a variant with consonant-ablaut, glazó{supm}, is represented by ON. gler, Da., MSw. glar; the mod. Scandinavian langs. have glas from Ger. (already in MSw. and MDa.).
A related word is prob. OE. glǽr (masc., if the pl. glæsas ‘succina’ be miswritten for *glǽras) amber, representing the OTeut. word (? *glæ̂zo-, ? *glæ̂zi-) adopted in Latin as glēs(s)um, glæsum. The OHG. glas occurs as a gloss to electrum amber. The ultimate root may be OTeut. glă-, glæ̂- ablaut-variant of glô- to shine: see glow v.]
I. As a substance.
1. A substance, in its ordinary forms transparent, lustrous, hard, and brittle, produced by fusing sand (silica) with soda or potash (or both), usually with the addition of one or more other ingredients, esp. lime, alumina, lead oxide.
For the different kinds see crown-, flint-, plate-, water-glass, etc.; also bottle-, crystal-, cut-glass, etc. under the different words.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §1 Ne me nane lyst mid glase ᵹeworhtra waᵹa. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1282 in Exeter Bk., Þæt scire glæs. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 83 Þet gles ne brekeð ne chineð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 164 Vor gles ne to⁓brekeð nout bute sum þinc hit arine. 13.. K. Alis. 7665 Theo wyndowes weoren of riche glas. 1382 Wyclif Rev. iv. 6 As a se of glas, lijk to cristal. 14.. Lat. Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 619/41 Vitrum, glaas. c 1425 Eng. Voc., ibid. 648/39 Hoc uitrum, glasse. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) i. vii. 79 Of ferne brente and put in to asshes man maketh by crafte these vesselles of glasshe. 1541 Extracts Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 174 Ane futt of glace. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 35 That olde man..well could file his tongue as smooth as glas. a 1633 G. Herbert Jac. Prud. (1651) §196 Whose house is of glasse, must not throw stones at another. 1715 Prior Down-Hall 53 One window was canvas, the other was glass. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 463 Though the jewel be but glass. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 589 They next try whether the glass be ready for casting. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 700 Many of the specimens..are of ‘cased glass’. This term is applied to glass which has received one or more layers of coloured glass. 1875 Fortnum Majolica i. 8 The paste of which these examples are formed is to all appearance an ordinary potter's clay glazed with a true glass. |
| transf. 1877 Bryant Poems, Little People of Snow 65 And..touched the pool, And turned its face to glass. |
2. Applied in a wider sense to various other substances, artificial and natural, which have similar properties or analogous chemical composition.
glass of antimony, a vitreous oxy-sulphide fused;
glass of borax, a vitreous transparent substance obtained by exposing to heat the crystals of sodium biborate;
glass of lead (see
quot. 1753);
glass of phosphorus (see
quot. 1819).
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 120 There is..a great distinction to be put betweene Vitrum and the Christall, yet both glasse. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 45, I cannot here omit that..infinite extention of the glasse of Antimony. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Glass of lead, a glass made with the addition of a large quantity of lead, of great use in the art of making counterfeit gems. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. II. 443 The volcanic glass called obsidian, appears in such quantities as to constitute rocks. 1816 Accum Chem. Tests (1818) 222 These substances..yield readily to glass of borax. 1819 Brande Chem. (1841) 484 A transparent substance is thus obtained, consisting of phosphoric acid, with phosphate, and a little sulphate of lime, commonly known under the name of glass of phosphorus. 1826 Henry Elem. Chem. II. 613 A large quantity of glass of lead was lately introduced into the London market, as glass of antimony. |
3. a. The substance considered as made into articles of use or ornament (for which see II). Hence as
collect. sing. = things made of glass:
e.g. vessels or ornaments of glass, window-panes or lights.
| 1625 Bacon Ess., Building (Arb.) 551 You shall haue sometimes Faire Houses, so full of Glasse, that one cannot tell, where to become, to be out of the Sunne, or Cold. 1833 Tennyson Goose xiii, The glass blew in, the fire blew out. 1850 Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) I. 236 A splendid collection of elaborate stained glass..exists at Gilling castle, Yorkshire. Ibid., note, Such has been..the destruction of old glass in this country, that few churches retain more than fragments of their original glazing. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. xix. 176 A waggon full of fenders, fire-irons, and glass, and crockery. Mod. The glass is kept in one cupboard and the silver in another. |
b. esp. as used in horticulture for greenhouses, frames. etc. Hence, greenhouses, etc., collectively.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 319 The potato..will not thrive under glass unless placed very near it. 1873 D. Thomson (title) Handy Book of Fruit Culture under glass. 1885 Sir L. W. Cave in Law Times Rep. LII. 627/1 There is..that amount of conservatory and glass which one would expect. 1897 Gardener's Chron. XXIII. 295/3 [The plaintiffs] were told their glass would be measured and assessed at the rate of {pstlg}100 per acre. |
II. Something made of glass.
4. a. A glass vessel or receptacle. Also, the contents of the vessel.
The specific application as in 5 is now so predominant that the word is now commonly applied only to vessels more or less resembling a drinking glass; a glass bottle or jar, for instance, is no longer called ‘a glass’. But the wider use survives in the collective plurals.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 164 Healewi in one bruchele glese. c 1380 Wyclif Last Age Ch. p. xxxv, Wiþ his blood he anoyntide þe glas, þe glass to barst and þe brid fleye his wey. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 700 In a glas he hadde pigges bones. c 1422 Hoccleve Min. Poems (1892) 232 He had a lytil glas, Which, with þat watir anoon filled he. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xiii, Only he lycked the glas by cause he cowde not reche to the mete with his mouthe. 1530 Privy Purse Exp. Hen. VIII (1827) 67 For bringing a glasse of Relike water fro Wyndeso{supr}. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. x. 1 Then toke Samuel a glasse of oyle, and poured it vpon his heade. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. lvi. (1566) 134 Reserue them [my teares] in a glasse by thee and write them in thy booke. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. i. 7 You will not pay for the glasses you haue burst? 1606 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 287 A glasse of sallett oyle for the clock, viijd. 1608 Chapman Byrons Trag. Q iv b, A glasse of ayre, broken with lesse then breath. 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housew. (ed. 2) 165 When the Juice boils, put in your Currants and boil them till your Syrup jellies..then put it in your Glasses. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 153 Miss, will you reach me that Glass of Jelly? 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 375 He shall be happy to furnish them with recent virus..if they will send their lancets or glasses to his house. 1870 Mrs. Loudon's Amateur Gardener (1880) 141 Those who grow hyacinths..in glasses. 1884 Wallace-Dunlop in Mag. of Art VII. 154/2 No illustrations can do justice to the endless diversities of Venetian glasses. |
b. = musical glasses (see
musical).
| 1762 Franklin Let. 13 July in Mem. (1818) III. 357 The glasses being thus tuned, you [etc.]. Ibid. 358 My largest glass is G, a little below the reach of a common voice. |
5. spec. A drinking-vessel made of glass; hence, the liquor contained, and
fig. drink.
| 1392–3 Earl Derby's Exped. (Camden) 235/31 Pro glases et verres. c 1400 Destr. Troy 804 Sho gafe hym a glasse with a good lycour. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxiii. 31 Loke not thou vpon the wyne..what a coloure it geueth in the glasse. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 104, I pray thee set a deepe glass of Reinish wine on the contrary Casket. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch v, Drink not the third glasse, which thou canst not tame, When once it is within thee. 1653 Walton Angler xiii. 239 So Master, here is a full glass to you of that liquor. 1744 Berkeley Siris §219 On taking a glass of tar-water. 1757 tr. Hentzner's Itin. 89 It is common for a number of them, that have got a glass in their heads, to [etc.]. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal iii. ii. (Song), Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass. 1789 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ep. to falling Minist. Wks. 1812 II. 116 A jolly fellow o'er his glass. 1833 Tennyson Miller's Dau. 17 Yet fill my glass: give me one kiss. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xi, This bargain concluded, they took a glass with the landlord. |
6. a. A
sand-glass for the measurement of time;
esp. an
hour-glass, and
Naut. the half-hour glass, the half-minute and quarter-minute glasses.
to flog the glass: see
flog v. 1 d.
| [c 1515: cf. hour-glass.] 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 138, I saw, my tyme how it did runne, as sand out of the glasse. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. xlvi. 102 To bring him a running glasse of an houre. 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. i. 168 Or foure and twenty times the Pylots glasse Hath told the theeuish minutes, how they passe. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 21 He is counted dull to purpose, that is not able..to fasten upon any text of scripture; and to tear and tumble it till the glass be out. 1711 Milit. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) 11, Glasses, are the Hour, Four Hour, and Minute Glasses, us'd at Sea. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 142 At the turning of every glass, during the night, we beat three ruffs on the drums. 1780 Cowper Table T. 41 The glass that bids man mark the fleeting hour. 1831 E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son xcv. (1890) 387 Every hour the ship's glass was turned. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Glass clear? Is the sand out of the uppper part? asked previously to turning it, on throwing the log. 1871 Joaquin Miller Songs Italy (1878) 71, I will wait in the pass Of death, until Time he shall break his glass. |
b. The time taken by the sand of such a glass to run out.
Naut. Usually said of the half-hour glass; hence, a glass
= half an hour.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. ii. 126 The 28. we lay sixe glasses a hull tarying for the pinesse. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 223 Our Ship, Which but three glasses since, we gaue out split Is tyte. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 12 Glasses (which are but halfe houres). 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1215/4 They engaged, and fought very briskly, during six Glasses. 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. 186 So standing in North-east, sometimes two Glasses, that is one hour. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 7 ¶14 The Bulldog engaged the Friseur..three glasses and a half. 1814 Sailor's Return i. vii, There, my hearty, keep that but so half a glass, and Ise warrant you'll be sound as a roach. |
c. fig.| 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 303, 200 yeares agoe, the Towne was rich..But now, whither her glasse is runne..or [etc.]. 1663 Bp. Griffith Serm. on 4 Admir. Beasts 17 When their race is run, and their glass is out. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 196 They are rendered..decrepid and old before half their glass is run. 1847 Grote Greece ii. xxvii. (1862) III. 42 The glass of this worthless dynasty is run out. |
7. A pane of glass,
esp. the window of a coach, etc.; the plate of glass covering a picture; a glazed frame or case (
e.g. for the protection of plants).
| 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 117 The tabelet with the Image of oure lady with a glasse to-fore hit. c 1566 J. Alday tr. Boaystuau's Theat. World R v b, There faire eyes that are the windowes of all the bodie, and glasses of the soule. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 159 As Goldsmithes sometime cover their ware and Jewells with a Glasse, to make them shew the better. 1642 Rates Merchandize 28 Glasses for windows. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1679) 25 Cover them [Plants] with glasses, having cloath'd them first with sweet, and dry Moss. 1670 R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 163 The stone upon which the gridiron stood, upon which S. Laurence was broiled. Its covered with a great glass through which you see it. 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 131 It had Glasses twice as big as my hand, made fast to each end of the coach, for the conveniency of calling to the Footmen. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 249 On Each side are Rowes of posts on w{supc}{suph} are Glasses—Cases for Lamps w{supc}{suph} are Lighted in ye Evening. 1717 Prior Alma iii. 234 He..Breaks watchmen's heads, and chairmen's glasses. a 1718 Motteux Epil. Vanbrugh's Mistake 18 We dare not..with a friend at night..With glass drawn up, drive about Covent-garden. 1782 Cowper Pineapples & Bee 20 While Cynthio ogles, as she passes The nymph between two chariot glasses. 1796 C. Marshall Garden. xiv. (1813) 212 When the plants cannot be contained under the glasses, let them be carefully trained out. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 116 He lowers the front glass, and bids the..coachman drive him to his surgeon's. 1833 T. Hook Widow & Marquess i, Bang went the door, up went the glass. |
8. a. A glass mirror, a
looking-glass.
| 13.. K. Alis. 4108 Theo maydenes lokyn in the glas, For to tyffen heore fas. 14.. Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 623 Speculum, glasse. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xvii, Men sayen comynly who that beholdeth in the glas well he seeth hym self. 1545 Rates Custom-ho. B iij b, Glasses called lokyng glasses the groce .iiiis. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1758 Poore broken glasse, I often did behold In thy sweet semblance, my old age new borne. a 1637 B. Jonson Celebr. Charis v. 40 The glass hangs by her side, And the girdle 'bout her waist. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 311 ¶4 A Fop who admires his Person in a Glass. 1868 Dickens Lett. 25 Feb. (1880) II. 363 It is actually swelling his head as I glance at him in the glass while writing. |
† b. applied to a mirror of other material.
| 1530 Privy Purse Exp. Hen. VIII (1827) 81 A payer of tabulls and chesses, A stele glasse [etc.]. 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xxi. F iv b, The best kinde of glasse for this purpose is of steele finely pullished. 1576 Gascoigne (title) The Steele Glas. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 114 Hauing placed a magical glasse of steele on the top. 1861 Our Eng. Home 116 The mirror..was made of beryl, or high polished steel, but called a glass. |
c. poet. applied to water as a mirror.
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 954 Proud that his glass Gliding so swift, so soon re-youngs the grass. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 844 The cleer Sun on his wide watrie Glass Gaz'd hot. 1716 Addison Salmacis & Herm. 37 In the limpid streams she views her face, And drest her image in the floating glass. |
d. fig.| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 81 b, He was the floure of kynges passed, and a glasse to them that should succede. 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 3 To behold in the Glas of Creation, the Forme of Formes. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 107 Louers that haue bene deceiued by fancy, the glasse of pestilence. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv. iii. Wks. 1878 II. 128 Be thou a glasse for maides. 1673 Temple Obs. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 25 He began to see, in the Glass of Time and Experience, the true Shapes of all human Greatness and Designs. 1714 J. Fortescue-Aland Pref. to Fortescue's Abs. & Lim. Mon. 72 History and Antiquity is the Glass of Time. 1771 Wesley Wks. (1872) V. 283 We are to see the Creator in the glass of every creature. 18.. Lowell Poet. Wks. (1879) 387 Man, Woman, Nature, each is but a glass Where the soul sees the image of herself. |
e. A magic mirror, a crystal, etc., used in magic
art. Also
glass of skill.
| c 1566 J. Alday tr. Boaystuau's Theat. World S vi b, A childe, who after he had looked in a glasse shewed him of hys destruction. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xiii. xix. 316 The regular, the irregular, the coloured and cleare glasses. 1589 R. Robinson Gold. Mirr. (Chetham Soc.) 53 He stept into his cave And brought a glass of skill exceeding brave. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 119 Yet the eight appeares, who beares a glasse, Which shewes me many more. |
9. a. A piece of glass shaped for a special purpose,
e.g. one of the glasses of a pair of spectacles, a lens, a watch-glass.
| 1545 Rates Custom-ho. B iij b, Glasses for spectacles. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 29 Not unlike the mould that the Spectacle-makers grinde their glasses on. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 73, I provided me with a Prismatical Glass, made hollow, just in the form of a Wedge. 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. iii. 24 Our artist..produced a correction of the defect by imitating, in glasses made from different materials, the effects of the different humours through which the rays of light pass before they reach the bottom of the eye. 1815 Scott Guy M. lvi, Pleydell wiped the glasses of his spectacles. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 390 Having cleaned the glasses of a good telescope, I hastened to the mast-head. 1833 N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 208 Equally whether the lens be of water inclosed between glasses like watch-glasses, or of solid glass. Ibid. 211 The image or picture of the sun formed by that glass or lens. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 112 [A] Glass Height Guage..is especially useful in fitting glasses to hunting watches where there is but little spare room. |
b. A burning-glass.
| a 1631 Donne To Mr. R. Woodward 21 Wks. (Grosart) II. 76 As Men force the sun with much more force to passe, By gathering his beams with a christall glasse. 1670 Dryden 2nd Pt. Conq. Granada v. ii, For if that heat your glances cast were strong, Your eyes, like glasses, fire, when held so long. |
10. An optical instrument used as an aid to sight.
a. gen.| 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 90 They view a single Shilling in a Multiplying Glass, which makes it appear a Thousand. 1736 Butler Anal. i. i. 29 How sight is assisted by glasses. |
| fig. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 563 It is only the half-reasoner, who..uses a glass full of flaws, that hunts for it in vain. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlvii. IV. 553 note, In the contemplation of a minute or remote object, I am not ashamed to borrow the aid of the strongest glasses. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women & B. I. i. 6 The strong glass of science has put an end to the assumptions of fiction. |
b. A telescope or other instrument for distant vision. More explicitly
spy-glass ,
field-glass, opera-glass, etc.
| 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i, As a man..Taketh a glasse prospective good and true, By which things most remote are full in view. 1638 Wilkins New World iii. (1707) 26 By the help of Galileus's Glass..the Heavens are made more present to us than they were before. 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 215 He used these glasses in Celestial Observations. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 97 We could see him..by our glasses. 1779 G. Keate Sk. fr. Nat. (ed. 2) II. 87 Three or four ladies..were come up with their glasses in their hands, to take a view of the new-arrived Indiamen. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xxi, A first-rate glass, Jack. 1873 Tristram Moab vi. 99 Even without a glass we could distinctly make out Jerusalem. |
c. A microscope. More explicitly
magnifying-glass.
| 1646 J. Hall Horæ Vac. 185 Small peeces best commend themselves through a Magnifying Glasse. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. 4 If you divide the Bee..you shall without help of the glasse, see the heart beat most lively. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 162 Through an ordinary single Magnifying Glass. 1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 47 Every one knows (who has been conversant with Microscopes) that we have some Glasses which will magnify a simple Point..so as to [etc.]. 1780 Harris Philol. Enq. Wks. (1841) 425 Those beings which, without the aid of glasses, even escape our perception. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. (1892) 290 If the finger is..looked at through the stone with a watchmaker's glass, the grain of the skin will be plainly visible if the stone is not a diamond. |
d. An
eye-glass; also in
pl. spectacles.
| 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. iii. 314 Well mounted, and glasses before his eyes to preserve them from the wind. 1746 Collins Odes, Manners (1771) 78 While ever varying as they pass To some Contempt applies her glass. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 288 Stationed there..With glass at eye, and catalogue in hand. 1790 Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 490 My eyes were so dim, that no glasses would help me. 1813 M. Edgeworth Patron. II. xxiii. 57 Looking through her glass at the man who was lighting the argand lamps. 1864 Tennyson Grandmother xxvii, Get me my glasses, Annie. 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. xi. (1867) 117 My lady took off her glasses. |
† 11. transf. The eye-ball, the eye.
poet.| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 208 Euen in the glasses of thine eyes I see thy greeued heart. 1607 ― Cor. iii. ii. 117 The smiles of Knaues Tent in my cheekes, and Schoole-boyes Teares take vp The Glasses of my sight! 1608 Yorksh. Trag. i. x, O, were it lawful that your pretty souls Might look from heaven into your father's eyes, Then should you see the penitent glasses melt. a 1621 Beaum. & Fl. Thierry & Theod. v. ii, Love, I must die, I faint, close up my glasses. |
12. a. A
weather-glass, a barometer.
b. A thermometer.
| a. 1688 J. Smith Baroscope 66 Such times as the Wind sets..contrary in Nature to that Weather which the Glass predicts. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 214 ¶4 A state weather-glass, that..presages all changes and revolutions in government, as the common glass does those of the weather. 1781 W. Blane Ess. Hunting (1788) 9 When he..finds the air moist..the quick-silver in his glass moderately high. 1843 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) II. 370 South-west wind, not sunny, glass at fair. 1867 Dickens Lett. 13 Nov. (1880) II. 304 The glass is rising high to-day. |
| b. 1775 T. Hutchinson Diary 21 July I. 493 Warm like a New England day—the glasses in the shade about 75. |
† III. 13. [Perh. another word;
cf. glass v.,
glaze v.]
= gloss n.2 1, 1 b.
| 1552 [see glass-worm in 16]. a 1569 A. Kingsmill Confl. w. Satan (1576) A vij b, The more shamefull facts he leadeth vs vnto, the more goodly glasse he setteth on them. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 89/1 By this meanes, he giueth greater glasse [orig. plus grand lustre] to y⊇ grace which he vseth. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. Pref. vii. §1 It is no part of my secret meaning..to set upon the face of this cause any fairer glass than the naked truth doth afford. 1598 Florio, Accauigliare, to stringe silke or giue it a glasse. 1605 Breton Old Man's Less. (Grosart) 10/2 Sattens..with such a glasse, that you may almost see your face in it. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 220 To take away the dust from them, or to giue them a better glasse. |
IV. attrib. and
Comb. 14. simple attrib., passing into quasi-adj. a. Made of glass.
Formerly often united with a hyphen.
| [c 900: see glassful.] c 1205 Lay. 17724 He nom his glæs-fat [c 1275 vrinal] anan & þe king mæh þer on. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. lxx. 419 Put them all together in a glasse vessell, or earthen one well glassed. 1641 French Distill. i. (1651) 36 That..Oyle may be better..if it be drawn in Balneo, with a gourd, and glasse-head. 1642 Rates Merchandize 29, Glasse pipes. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cviii. 154 The distilled water hereof, that is drawn forth with a Glasse-Still. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. 88 Several Glass-Trunks, or Cylindrical Glass-Tubes. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 36 Take a small Glass-Cane about a foot long, seal up one end. 1676 tr. Guillatiere's Voy. Athens 269 A kind of Glass-bottles that hold each of them three or four pints. c 1678 Hatton Corr. (1878) I. 169 Neither the glass penns nor any other sorts are neare soe good [as steel pens]. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 6, I was a dirty glass-bottle-house boy, sleeping in the ashes. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. III. (ed. 2) 245 Some..use the Glass Stopple instead of the Cork. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 439 If care be taken..to break the largest lumps with a glass-pestle or spatula. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 574 By boiling concentrated sulphuric acid in a glass vessel. 1853 Househ. Words 11 June 353/2 There is (or was) a famous glass-bead factory at Murano. 1853 W. Gregory Inorg. Chem. (ed. 3) 101 Small bottles..closely fitted with glass stoppers. 1865 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. viii. (1871) 185 Glass lenses were employed to concentrate the rays. |
b. Glazed, having pieces or panes of glass set in a frame.
Cf. glass-case, -coach, -house, etc.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 308 A turret of stone..hauing a great glasse-lanthorne in the toppe..with a great copper pan in the midst to holde oile, with twenty lights in it. a 1631 Donne in Select. (1840) 128 The bees have made it their first work to line that glass-hive, with a crust of wax, that they might work and not be discerned. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 193 You may..have early Sallets on the Hot-Bed, and under Glass Frames and Bells. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 116 Every Coffee-House is Illuminated..without by a fine Glass-Lanthorn. 1834 Gentl. Mag. CIV. i. 208 He can look through a glass-door at the German Curiosity-chamber within. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 75 Peas or beans..such as are forced and require glass frames to protect them. 1845 James Smuggler III. 129 Sir Robert Croyland they found looking out of the glass-door. 1886 Tupper My Life as Author 240 Our glass-porch entrance at Albury. 1895 Daily News 23 Feb. 5/2 ‘We work in a glass hive’, said the late Lord Russell many years ago. |
15. General comb.:
a. attributive, as
glass business,
glass-line,
glass-shop,
glass trade.
| 1799 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1800) III. 330, I am 32 years of age, a widow, in the *glass line, in London. 1823 Ibid. (1824) 211 He..is himself in the glass line..but is, at present, out of business. |
| 1639 Cartwright Royall Slave i. iii, Would doe as much harme in a Kingdome, as a monkey in a *Glasse-shop. |
b. objective, as
glass-beveller,
glass-embosser,
glass-engraver,
glass-grinder,
glass-maker,
glass-mender,
glass-painter,
glass-polisher,
glass-seller,
glass-silverer,
glass-stainer;
glass-annealing (in
quot. attrib.),
glass-bevelling,
glass-colouring,
glass-embossing,
glass-engraving,
glass-gilding,
glass-grinding,
glass-making,
glass-painting,
glass-silvering,
glass-soldering,
glass-spinning,
glass-staining vbl. ns. Also
glass-cutter, -cutting.
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, *Glass annealing furnace. |
| 1891 Daily News 16 June 6/6 Delegates..representing the *glass-bevellers of the London and provincial branches. |
| Ibid. 3 Nov. 3/6 Employers who are interested in *glass-bevelling. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-coloring, tinting glass by incorporating metallic oxides in its substance. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Glass-embosser, an ornamenter of glass. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 17 July 3/1 The girls and women working in the..*glass-embossing room. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Glass-engraver, a workman who cuts figures on glass. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-engraving. |
| 1811 Self Instructor 529 The most important secret in *glass-gilding. |
| a 1691 Boyle Wks. (1744) I. 255/2 The *glass grinders often complain of the trouble they meet with in separating such bodies. 1768 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 113/1 The glass grinders assembled in a body to petition parliament for an augmentation of their wages. |
| 1795 Ash, Suppl., *Glass-grinding. |
| 1576 Gascoigne Steel Gl. (Arb.) 55 One that was, a *Glassemaker in deede. 1750 tr. Leonardus's Mirr. Stones 44 A certain stone, with which our glass⁓makers whiten their vessels. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Vitrerie, a glasing or *Glasse-making. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 44 Glass-making was certainly known to the Egyptians. |
| 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies iii. 21 When the smith and the *glassemender driue theire white and fury fires. |
| 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. I. vi. 126 He [Marc Willems] made designs for most of the painters, *glass-painters, and arras-makers of his time. |
| 1847 Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. 110 Miniature and *glass-painting..and similar..graceful branches of art. |
| 1897 Daily News 13 May 8/5 T. A., *glass-polisher, pleaded guilty to [etc.]. |
| 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. Lond. II. v. xv. 240/2 The *Glass-Sellers in London were much aggrieved at this. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Glass-silverer, one who coats glass with quicksilver for mirrors, &c. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-silvering, glass for mirrors or ornamentation is silvered by one of two methods. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Glass-stainer. See Glass-painter. |
| Ibid., *Glass-staining, the process of colouring or painting glass. |
c. similative, as
glass-clear (
cf. OE. glæs-hluttor),
glass-coloured,
glass-green,
glass-grey,
glass hard adjs.; also
glass-like adj. and
adv.| 1890 Dominion Illustr. Christm. No., A lakelet whose water was waveless and *glass-clear. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 174 It was sprinkled over with hyaline or *glass-colour'd dust. |
| 1790 A. Wilson Hardyknute Poet. Wks. (1846) 136 Loose from his side a *glass-green horn he drew. 1912 E. Pound Ripostes 16 Out through the glass-green fields. 1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Pract. Cats 40 He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes. |
| 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars vi. 81 Whose eyes were pink, rather than *glass-grey. 1920 A. Huxley Leda 74 The glass-grey silver of rivers. |
| 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 243 Round bars of *glass-hard steel. 1889 Nature 7 Nov. 12 If steel has to be made glass-hard..mercury is used. |
| 1616–61 B. Holyday Persius 309 How he swells, And breaks with *glass-like choller. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 180 Sometimes would hee..cast a glasse of comfort on him, but glasse-like was it brittle. 1662 Dryden Astræa Redux 208 For by example most we sinn'd before, And glass-like clearness mix'd with frailty bore. 1889 J. J. Hissey Tour in Phaeton 190 The Mirror Broad..may not be always so smooth and glass-like as when we saw it. |
d. parasynthetic and instrumental, as
glass-bowled,
glass-built,
glass-cased (
cf. glass case),
glass-clad,
glass-covered,
glass-distilled,
glass-doored,
glass-fronted,
glass-jewelled,
glass-legged,
glass-lidded,
glass-lined,
glass-panelled,
glass-sided,
glass-topped,
glass-walled adjs.| 1891 Daily News 28 May 6/1 That was with a *glass-bowled lamp, whereas this was a brass and copper one. |
| 1781 E. Darwin Bot. Gard., Econ. Veg. iv, In *glass-built fanes. |
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 2/1 The black marble *glass-cased clock. 1902 Ibid. 8 Feb. 2/1 The glass-cased eatables. |
| 1961 Listener 28 Sept. 464/1 He would say that his *glass-clad buildings bring man in contact with nature. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 11 Mar. 1/1 There is a spacious balcony, which opens into a *glass-covered gallery. |
| 1956 Nature 10 Mar. 471/2 Dissolved in *glass-distilled water. |
| 1924 H. Crane Let. 23 Sept. (1965) 190 Books..in the *glass-doored bookcase. |
| 1902 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 9/1 The great *glass-fronted, gilded coach. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day v. 90 Theological works in glass-fronted bookcases. |
| 1916 H. G. Wells Mr. Britling i. ii. 55 Fastened with a large green *glass-jewelled brooch. |
| 1824 Body & Soul (ed. 4) I. 42 The *glass-legged stool of an electrifying apparatus. |
| 1947 C. Morgan Judge's Story xxx. 199 The girl sitting..at a *glass-lidded table. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. II. 980/2 *Glass-lined pipe, one in which the metal of the outer pipe is protected from corrosion by any liquids. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 72/1 There was the bottom unloading mechanism as with the glass-lined silo. |
| 1895 Westm. Gaz. 28 Jan. 5/1 A *glass-panelled hearse drawn by four horses. |
| 1901 ‘L. Malet’ Hist. R. Calmady v. viii. 443 The *glass-sided hearse. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 15 May 10/2 One of the compartments of the *glass-topped case. 1966 A. La Bern Goodbye Piccadilly i. 10 Glass-topped tables furnished with ashtrays too heavy to steal. |
| 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 397 The institutional world, the monumental world, the world of skyscrapers and *glass-walled banks. 1963 B. Fozard Instrumentation Nucl. Reactors v. 57 In the latter the envelope is most commonly of glass (glass-walled tube). |
16. Special comb.:
glass-artist, one who designs coloured or stained glass windows;
glass-ball, a ball made of glass, used as an ornament or toy, a mark for shooting at, etc.;
† glass-band, one of the strips of lead for securing the panes of glass in a window;
glass-bell = bell-glass;
† glass-belly, a bellied glass flask, serving the purpose of a retort;
glass-blower, one who blows and fashions glass; so
glass-blowing vbl. n.;
glass-breaker Sc., ? a tippler;
glass brick (see
quot. 1909);
glass-calm, a calm when the sea is smooth as glass;
glass-cavity, a cavity in a mineral filled with a glassy substance;
glass-chalcedony,
-chord (see
quots.);
glass-crab, the larva of a palinuroid or scyllaroid shrimp;
glass-culture, culture of fruit, etc., under glass;
glass-cupboard, a glazed book-case;
glass disease (see
quot. 1937);
glass-drop = drop n. 10 h;
glass-dust, powdered glass, used for grinding and polishing;
glass-eel,
-enamel (see
quots.);
glass-faced a., reflecting, like a mirror, the looks of another;
glass-furnace, a furnace in which the materials of glass are fused;
glass-gall, a whitish salt scum cast up from glass in a state of fusion;
glass-gazing a., given to contemplating oneself in a mirror;
† glass-gilt a., thinly coated with a glassy surface;
glass-glazed a., (of pottery) having a glaze of substantial thickness;
glass-grenade, a grenade with case made of glass instead of metal;
glass-height-gauge, an instrument for measuring the height of watch-glasses;
† glass-helmet, a glass covering used by early chemists as a protection for the head;
glass-metal, glass in a state of fusion;
glass-mosaic,
-mould,
nautilus (see
quots.);
† glass-ore, a rich kind of silver ore;
glass-organist, ? a performer on the musical glasses;
glass-oven (see
quot.);
glass-paper, paper covered with finely-powdered glass for polishing or smoothing wood, bone, etc.; so
glass-paper v., to rub or polish with glass-paper;
glass-plate,
† (
a) (see
quot. 1642); (
b) a sheet of glass;
glass-pock,
-pox, an eruptive disease,
Varicella coniformis;
glass-porcelain (see
quot.);
glass-pot, a pot or crucible used for fusing the materials of glass in a glass-furnace;
glass-press,
-proof (see
quots.);
glass-rope (sponge), the genus
hyalonema;
† glass-salt = glass-gall;
glass-sand, sand used in the manufacture of glass;
† glass-set a., put into shape before a mirror;
glass-shaped a., shaped like a drinking-glass, cyathiform;
glass-shell, a name given to certain molluscs (see
quots.);
glass-shrimp, a larval form of certain stomatopodous crustaceans;
glass silk (see
quot. a 1884);
glass silkworm, the cylinder on which glass silk is spun;
glass-slag, the refuse of glass-manufacture;
glass slipper [mistranslation of
Fr. pantoufle en vair fur slipper, mistaken for
verre glass], a slipper made of glass,
esp. the one lost by Cinderella in the fairy-tale;
glass-snail, a snail of the genus
Vitrina, having a thin translucent shell;
glass-snake, (
a) a large limbless lizard,
Ophiosaurus ventralis, with a very brittle tail, common in the southern
U.S.; (
b) a lizard of the genus
Pseudopus;
glass-soap, a name given, in glass-making, to peroxide of manganese (see
quot.);
glass-sponge = glass-rope sponge (above);
† glass-stone , a kind of transparent stone, ? mica; also ? Brazilian pebble;
glass-tinner, the workman who applies tin-foil to mirror-plates;
glass-ware, articles made of glass;
† glass-weed = glass-wort;
glass wool (see
quot.);
glass-worm, the glow-worm (
cf. glare-,
glaze-worm);
† glass-wright = glazier. Also
glass fibre.
| 1889 H. A. Dodds Rep. Paris Exhib. 7 The *glass-artist..when he designs a window, frankly recognizes these restrictions. |
| 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 22 It is full of Lamps, and curiosities in *glass balls, of which one, for instance, contains a little galley. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Glass-balls,..circular or otherwise shaped hollow vessels of glass coloured within so as to imitate the semi⁓pellucid gems. 1880 New Virginians II. 223 There are also hunting and fishing clubs, and glass-ball matches. |
| 1577 in Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) 67 The said erle furnesand *glasbandis, soilburdis, lyme, and sand. |
| 1641 French Distill. iii. (1651) 68 Over it hang a *Glasse-bell. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. 309 We must sow upon it, under Glass-Bells, some good bright Curled Lettuce. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. vii, Wert thou..covered up within the largest imaginable Glass-bell. |
| 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Vocab., Balneum Mariæ, is a way of distilling with a *glass-belly, holding the ingredients put into a vessel of water. |
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 10 Broche makers, *glas blowers. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest §139 A Venetian glass-blower swept you a curve of crystal from the end of his pipe. |
| ? 1829 Lond. Encycl. X. 230/2 *Glass-blowing is the art of forming vessels of glass. |
| 1815 Scott Guy M. xlv, I think we had better lie down, Captain, if ye're no agreeable to another cheerer. But troth, ye're nae *glass-breaker; and neither am I. |
| 1909 Chem. Abstr. III. 1210 *Glass Brick: A New Building Material... Description of a hollow glass brick. In use the brick is laid up in the usual way and the inside filled with concrete, forming a monolithic concrete wall with a glass surface. 1938 Archit. Rev. LXXXIII. 205/2 (caption) The office counter, showing the glass-brick wall which is used as a display background. |
| 1893 Times 3 July 11/1 There was a *glass calm down the Renfrew and Ayrshire shores. 1896 Daily News 12 June 6/7 A glass calm set in which stayed the cutter. |
| 1857 Sorby in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XIV. 466 It appears to me that we cannot do better than adopt a term analogous to that so generally adopted for fluid-filled cavities, and call these glass-filled cavities *glass-cavities. 1874 Ward ibid. XXXI. 397 The augite crystals present many glass-cavities. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Glass-Chalcedony, a mixture of several ingredients, with the common matter of glass, will make it represent the semi-opake gems, the jaspers, agates, chalcedonies, &c. |
| 1825 Danneley Encycl. Mus., *Glass chord, a clavier instrument, mounted with glass bars instead of strings. |
| 1855 Ogilvie, Suppl., *Glass-crab, the name given to species of the genus Phyllosoma which are as transparent nearly as glass. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. 356 The Glass-crabs, or Phyllosomata are singular marine pelagic crustacea. 1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) II. 55 Loricata..the young forming the ‘glass crabs’, which formerly, under the name Phyllosoma, were regarded as adults. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 19 June 14/1 *Glass culture is also now so cheap. |
| 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 328 Folio's and other volumes..on the advanc'd shelves or *glass-cupboards of the lady's closets. |
| 1902 Lancet 25 Oct. 1143/1 Lately it has been found that a peculiar ‘*glass disease’ has broken out amongst the windows of York Cathedral. 1937 Burlington Mag. Nov. 218/1 There is..[a] sort of decay, proceeding from within, which is due to too large a proportion of alkali in the composition of the glass itself. This ‘glass disease’ (as it is often called) may, and generally does, show itself within a short time after making, and takes the form at first of an interior network of very fine cracks. |
| 1662 *Glass Drops [see drop n. 10 b]. 1710 J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 137 The scattering about of the Particles of the Glass-drop, is owing to [etc.]. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 264 We..in *glasse-dust did commence To draw the round Earth's fair circumference. |
| 1840 F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. II. 267 The *Glass-Eel, or Small-Head. (Leptocephalus, Sp.). This is one of the most extraordinary and paradoxical fishes the ocean affords. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-enamel, a semi-lucid or an opaque glass, which owes its milkiness to the addition of binoxide of tin. |
| 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 58 The *glasse-fac'd Flatterer. |
| 1632 Sherwood, A *Glasse-furnace, verriere. 1671 Locke Hum. Und. (MS. draft) (1931) xxxix. 93 The glowing heat of a glass furnace. 1880 Harper's Mag. Dec. 63 Since..Pittsburgh's first glass furnace in 1796 this industry has found in that city..congenial soil. |
| 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 69/1 Take *glassegaule, or Cristalle. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 246 Mingle it with fluss, and a little Glass-galls. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 166 A white porous scum, known by the name of sandiver or glass-gall, rises through the mass. |
| 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 19 A..whoreson *glasse-gazing super-seruiceable finicall Rogue. |
| c 1684 Frost of 1683–4 (Percy Soc.) 28 Whilst on its *glass gilt face strange buildings stand. |
| 1883 J. W. Mollett Dict. Art & Archæol., *Glass-glazed wares. |
| 1664 Evelyn Mem. 4 Feb., I had discourse with the King about an invention of *glass-grenades. 1884 *Glass-height gauge [see sense 9]. |
| 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. viii. 64 The wide Orifice (which in common *Glass-Helmets is the onely one). |
| a 1626 Bacon Phys. Rem. Wks. 1827 VII. 191 Let proof be made of the incorporating of copper or brass with *glass-metal. |
| 1854 Fairholt Dict. Art, *Glass-mosaic, a modern Italian work in imitation of the antique..formed of small squares of coloured glass..and used for brooches [etc.]. 1879 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 178 The introduction of..glass mosaic on the tombs of the builder and rebuilder of the Abbey. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-mold, a metallic shaping-box in which glass is pressed or blown to form. |
| 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 294/1 The shells of this genus [Carinaria] were formerly known to collectors under the name of..‘*Glass Nautilus’. |
| 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. i. ii. 5 *Glass-Oars (as the cheifest of the leaden Coloured Oars) almost to be compared to the best digested Silver. |
| 1759 Gray Lett. Wks. 1884 III. 22 The fire is said to have begun in the chamber of that poor *glass-organist who lodged at a coffee-house in Swithin's Alley. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-oven, a heated chamber in which just-made glass in sheets or ware is placed to cool gradually. |
| 1815 Niles' Weekly Reg. IX. 94/2 *Glass paper [was manufactured]. 1847 Smeaton Builder's Man. 97 This being done, the work may be cleaned off with a piece of glass-paper. |
| 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 84/1 Take a sheet of the finest glass-paper, and when the first coating of varnish is perfectly dry, glass-paper the whole surface, and make it smooth as before. |
| 1642 Rates Merchandize 29 *Glasse plates or sights for looking glasses unfyled. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 579 In forming glass-plates by the extension of a cylinder into a plane, the workman first [etc.]. |
| 1858 B. Ridge Health & Dis. 118 The superfluity of the acid and acrid materials in children will beget *glass-pock. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 603 The patient had in his youth suffered from scarlatina and ‘glass-pox’. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Glass porcelain, the name given by many to a modern invention of imitating the china ware with glass. |
| Ibid., *Glass Pots. 1819 Brande Chem. (1841) 1039 The glass-pots are placed round a dome-shaped furnace..there are generally six in each furnace. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Glass-press, a device to apply pressure to glass in a mold while in a plastic state. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, *Glass proofs, see Bologna Phials. Bologna Phials or Proofs are small round bottles of unannealed glass, which fly to pieces directly anything angular is dropped into them. |
| 1855 Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 86 Hyalonemas, or *glass-rope sponges. |
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. v. §21 Of Sandiver, or *Glass Salt. |
| 1863 A. C. Ramsay Phys. Geog. 139 The *glass-sand used in this country is chiefly derived from the Eocene beds of the Isle of Wight, and from the sand-dunes on the borders of the Bristol Channel. |
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie ii. vi. 201 Then Mato comes with his new *glasse-set face. |
| 1776–96 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 201 Male, nectary in the centre; *glass-shaped. 1854 Mayne Expos. Lex., Glass-shaped. See Cyathiformis. |
| 1851 Gosse Zool. 220 *Glass shells (a. Hyalea tridentata; b. Cleodora pyramidata). 1855 Ogilvie, Suppl., Glass-shell, species of Hyalea, whose shells look as if they had been blown out of the thinnest glass. 1879 Rossiter Dict. Sci. Terms s.v., Glass shell = Carinaria, belongs to Gasteropoda. |
| Ibid., *Glass shrimp = Erichthus. |
| a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 405/1 *Glass silk, a product obtained by winding fine threads of glass in fusion on rapidly rotating and heated cylinders. 1937 Archit. Rev. LXXXII. 120 Glass silk has been used for the sound insulation of internal partitions. |
| 1899 Jrnl. Soc. Arts XLVIII. 64/1 Should they [sc. bubbles] pass into the *glass silk-worms, the continuity of the thread would be broken. |
| 1612 Sturtevant Metallica (1854) 113 *Glasse-slage is a liquid materiall of a glassie substance. 1878 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) IV. 408 Glass-slag. |
| 1729 tr. Perrault's Histories 73 (title) Cinderilla: or, The little *Glass Slipper. 1819 M. Wilmot Let. 21 Dec. (1935) 46 Cinderella in her glass slippers and Fairy gifted finery was dull to the brilliancy of every creature. 1969 ‘J. Munro’ Innocent Bystanders iv. 64 If Cinderella had lost her glass slipper in New York, Loomis had said, her foot would have been in it all the time. |
| 1851–6 Woodward Mollusca 163 *Glass-snail. |
| 1736 Mortimer Nat. Hist. Carolina in Phil. Trans. XXXIX. 258 Cæcilia maculata: The *Glass-Snake. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 221 The glass snake..A small blow with a stick will separate the body, not only at the place struck, but at two or three other places, the muscles being articulated in a singular manner, quite through to the vertebra. 1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 434 Pseudopus gracilis, the Khasya glass-snake..inhabiting the Khasya Hills of India. |
| 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 148 Black oxide of manganese has long been used for clearing glass from any foul colour which it might accidentally possess through the impurity of the alkali employed..This property..occasioned it to be anciently known as *glass soap. |
| 1875 Scribner's Mag. Nov. 42 *Glass-sponges. 1884 tr. J. J. Rein's Japan 486 The well-known glass-sponge (Hyalonema Sieboldi). |
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 54 The hither part [of Spain] aboundeth besides with stone glasses, or *glasse stones [orig. specularibus lapidibus]. Ibid. II. 595 The best plastre..is..made of the Talc or the glasse stone aforesaid. 1642 Rates Merchandize 29 Glasse stone, plates, for spectacles rough the dozen 00. 13. 04. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 592 The *glass-tinner..taking a sheet of tinfoil adapted to his purpose..spreads it on the table, and applies it closely with a brush. |
| 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman xxvi. (1841) I. 267 *Glass ware from Sturbridge. c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 225 He was a poor man, who had laid out the little money he possessed in a basket of glassware. |
| 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 37 It maye be called also *Glaswede, because the ashe of it serve to make glas with. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 101 A Plant..which the Botanists call Kali..and we..Glass-weed. |
| 1879 English Mechanic 30 May 282/3 The patentee, therefore, proposes to employ..*glass wool. 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., Glass-wool, glass spun out to a very fine fibre. Used in the filtration of acids. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique of Sound Studio 239 Soft absorbers (glass wool, fibre board, etc.)..are poor absorbers at low frequencies. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Glasse worme or grene worme, whiche shyneth in the nyghte wyth a glasse lyke golde, cantharis, cantharida. 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 976 In English, Glow-worm, Shine-worm, Glass-worm. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 198/1 *Glasse wryte..vitrarius. 1627 Dumbarton Burgh Rec. in J. Irving Hist. Dumbartonsh. (1860) 478 Thay ordanit the glasswryt mak up a new glas to the Tolbooth in the loist windo. |
Add:
[IV.] [16.] glass ceiling orig
U.S., an unofficial or unacknowledged barrier to personal advancement,
esp. of a woman or a member of an ethnic minority in employment. Also
transf.| 1984 Adweek 15 Mar. (Magazine World 1984) 39/2 Women have reached a certain point—I call it the *glass ceiling. They're in the top of middle management and they're stopping and getting stuck. 1988 New Scientist 8 Oct. 62/3 Sadly, astronomers from all countries report a ‘glass ceiling’. The proportion of women is highest for the lower grades. 1991 Newsweek 11 Mar. 57/1 In the Army, where three in 10 enlistees are African-American, 11 percent of the officers are black. Advances in the ranks are obstructed by ‘glass ceilings’, where networking and old-boyism still speed the advance of mediocre whites. 1994 Daily Tel. 25 Aug. 25/1 After several spirited assaults, the FT-SE's 3200 glass ceiling finally gave way yesterday, allowing the index to close sharply higher after a day of drifting. 1995 Economist 7 Jan. 5/3 For most top amateurs there is a glass ceiling on the professional circuit, and it does not take them long to hit it. |
▪ II. † glass, n.2 Obs. rare.
[a. OF. glas, glais.] A resounding noise.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 158/1 A Glasse of ringynge or trumpynge, classicum. |
▪ III. † glass, a. Obs. rare.
Also
glase.
[perh. f. glass n.1; but cf. Welsh glas, grey.]| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health xiii. 11 b, The thyrde is of a glasse or a greenyshe colour. Ibid. xciv. 37 Some [men] hath glase and dankyshe skynnes. |
▪ IV. glass, v. (
glɑːs,
-æ-)
[f. glass n.1; cf. glaze v.1, which represents an equivalent older formation.] 1. trans. To fit or fill in with glass;
= glaze v.
1 Now
rare.
| 1540 Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 1 To master glasier for glassynge the wyndous. 1599 Minsheu, To Glasse or glaze. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Devonshire i. (1662) 257 The Lady glassing the Window in her husbands absence..caused one child more then she then had, to be set up. 1665 Bp. Cosin Corresp. (Surtees) II. 114 Are the windows well and fairly glassed, the floor..well and even layd? 18.. Clough Poems & Rem. (1869) II. 97 [The sun] Southwestering now, thro' windows plainly glassed. 1886 Chesh. Gloss., Glass v. to glaze. Glassing the windows is to put the panes into their frames. |
2. a. To protect by a covering of glass, to enclose or case in glass (
rare). Also (
nonce-use), to keep
away (from the air) by enclosing in glass.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 244 As Iewels in Christall for some Prince to buy. Who tendring their own worth from whence they were glast, Did point out to buy them along as you past. 1799–1805 Wordsw. Prelude ix. 88 Tranquil almost and careless as a flower Glassed in a green-house. 1886 Century Mag. XXXII. 863/1 As if a boy were an orchid or other frail exotic to be glassed away from the rough air of manhood. |
† b. To put into a glass vessel for the purpose of storing or keeping, to bottle. Also
to glass up.
| 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housew. (ed. 2) 155 When your Quinces are clear..glass them up, and when they are cold, paper them and keep them in a Stove. Ibid. 182 When the Syrup will jelly and the Oranges look clear, they are enough; then glass them with the holes uppermost, and pour the Syrup upon them. |
c. To put (bees) into a glass hive.
| 1791 Trans Soc. Arts IX. 108, I endeavoured to prevent such an increase by glassing them; but many of the stocks warmed before the glasses or small hives were full. |
† 3. a. To cover with a vitreous or glass-like surface;
= glaze v.
1 2.
Obs.| 1577 Frampton Joyful Newes i. (1596) 8 In siluer, Glasse or Tinne [vessels], or any other things glassed. 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 80 In an earthen [vessel] well glassed. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magick v. v. 170 Make a vessel of potters earth..glassed within with glass. 1661 Boyle Scept. Chem. i. 58, I have observ'd little Grains of Silver to lie hid in the small Cavities (perhaps glass'd over by a vitrifying heat) in Crucibles, wherein Silver has been long kept in Fusion. |
b. said of frost.
rare.
| 1880 Echo 11 Dec. 2/6 Streams..glassed with ice. 1890 Boy's Own Paper 11 Jan. 230/1 The hedgerows..were glassed with most amazing traceries in diamond arabesque. |
c. To make (the eye) glassy. (
Cf. glaze v.
1 6.)
| 1841 Emerson Ess. Ser. i. iv. Spiritual Laws, What he is engraves itself on his face..His vice glasses his eye, demeans his cheek. |
4. a. To set (an object, oneself) before a mirror or other reflecting surface, so as to cause an image to be reflected; also to view the reflection of, see as in a mirror. Often
refl. Also
transf. and
fig.| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1629) 147 Me-thinkes I am partaker of thy passion, And in thy case doe glasse mine owne debilitie. Ibid. iii. 358 He had lifted vp his face to glasse himselfe in her faire eyes. c 1595 Southwell St. Peter's Compl. 17 O pooles..Where Saints rejoyce to glasse their glorious face. 1651 Raleigh's Ghost 38 Whose infinite puissance..we are partly able to glass and see (as it were by reflection). 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. clxxxiii, Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests. 1837 Fraser's Mag. XVI. 559 Many of his contemporaries aimed at glassing themselves in his mirror, and becoming his echoes. 1852 M. Arnold Youth Nat. 38 Helicon glassed in the lake Its firs. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 7 All which images Concentred in the picture, glassed themselves Before my meditative childhood. 1887 Gissing Thyrza I. i. 7 The opposite slopes glassed themselves in the deep dark water. |
b. Of a mirror or reflecting surface: To reflect, give back an image of.
| a 1628 F. Greville Cœlica Poems (1633) 220 Let my present thoughts be glassed In the thoughts which you have passed. 1817 Byron Manfred ii. ii. 26 Thy calm clear brow, Wherein is glass'd serenity of soul. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. iii. 92 His serene mind could glass a fair image without feeling its depths troubled by the reflection. 1853 M. Arnold Sohrab & Rustum 573 Never more Shall the lake glass her, flying over it. 1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders I. viii. 152 Both looked attractive as glassed back by the faithful reflector. |
c. To view or look for (something) with the aid of field-glasses.
| 1935 E. Hemingway Green Hills Africa (1936) ii. vii. 166 We glassed the country. 1952 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 100/1 It was going to be a fine day with adequate light to ‘glass’ birds at a distance. 1964 F. O'Rourke Mule for Marquesa (1967) iv. 53 Fardan glassed the south, then the north where pursuit would come first, if it came. |
5. techn. To dress (leather) with a glassing-jack or glassing-machine. Also to
glass out.
| 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 278/1 The hides are..again ‘glassed’. They are ‘filled’ with paste, glassed in the paste. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 268 For the morocco or lining finisher it [a machine] will glaze, roll, pebble and glass out. |
6. intr. To glisten like glass.
nonce-use.
| 1896 Atlantic Monthly May 607/1 Below them the river glassed and gleamed in its crooked bed. |
7. to glass off (
Surfing). Of the sea: to become smooth and transparent.
| 1967 J. Severson Great Surfing Gloss., Glass-off—when the wind dies (usually in the afternoon), causing the water to become very smooth or glassy slick. 1968 W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 22/1 When the waves glass off in this way..surfriding takes on a truly aesthetic appearance not often seen. |
▸
trans. slang (
orig. and chiefly
Brit.). To strike (a person) with a (broken) glass or bottle,
esp. in the face.
| 1931 Police Jrnl. Oct. 502 The broadsman got chivved and glassed. 1943 Police Jrnl. Mar. Glass,..to wound with broken glass. 1982 New Soc. 5 Aug. 209 [The game of pool] is all tattooed arms and people who'll glass you as soon as look at you. 2006 News of World (Nexis) 16 Apr. A clubber glassed him... He needed seven stitches after the maniac smashed a bottle into his face. |