floss

Meaning

Noun

1. A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
2. Raw silk fibres.
3. The fibres covering a corncob etc.; the loose downy or silky material inside the husks of certain plants, such as beans.
4. Any thread-like material having parallel strands that are not spun or wound around each other.
5. Spun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
6. A body feather of an ostrich.
7. A dance move in which the dancer repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on each side.

Verb

1. To clean the area between (the teeth) using floss.
2. (slang) To show off, especially by exhibiting one's wealth or talent.
3. To perform the floss dance move.

Synonyms

dental floss

fluff

fuzz

kapok

nap

pile

scruff

scum

silk cotton

silk thread

epistasis

fine down

mockmain

scummings

vegetable silk

floss silk oak

vegetable down

bombax cotton

Ceiba fibre

down

Pronounced as (IPA)

/flɒs/

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English *flos (attested in Middle English Flosmonger (a surname)), related to English fleece. Alternatively from French floche (“tuft of wool”), from floc, from Old French flosche (“down, velvet”), from Latin floccus (“piece of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokkō (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkô (“down, piece of wool, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”).
Cognate with Old High German flocko (“down”), Middle Dutch vlocke (“flock”), Norwegian dialectal flugsa (“snowflake”), Dutch flos (“plush”) (tr=17c.).