glass

[ glas, glahs ]

/ glæs, glɑs /

noun

a hard, brittle, noncrystalline, more or less transparent substance produced by fusion, usually consisting of mutually dissolved silica and silicates that also contain soda and lime, as in the ordinary variety used for windows and bottles.

any artificial or natural substance having similar properties and composition, as fused borax, obsidian, or the like.

something made of such a substance, as a windowpane.

a tumbler or other comparatively tall, handleless drinking container.

glasses, Also called eyeglasses. a device to compensate for defective vision or to protect the eyes from light, dust, and the like, consisting usually of two glass or plastic lenses set in a frame that includes a nosepiece for resting on the bridge of the nose and two sidepieces extending over or around the ears (usually used with pair of). Compare goggle(def 1a), pince-nez, spectacle(def 3).

a mirror.

things made of glass, collectively; glassware: They used to collect old glass.

a glassful.

a lens, especially one used as a magnifying glass.

a spyglass.

adjective

made of glass: a glass tray.

furnished or fitted with panes of glass; glazed.

verb (used with object)

to fit with panes of glass.

cover with or encase in glass.

to coat or cover with fiberglass: to glass the hull of a boat.

to scan with a spyglass or other optical instrument.

to reflect: Trees glassed themselves in the lake.

Origin of glass

before 900; Middle English glas (noun), Old English glæs; cognate with Dutch, German Glas

OTHER WORDS FROM glass

glass·less, adjective glass·like, adjective non·glass, adjective un·glassed, adjective

Words nearby glass

glasgow, glashow, glasnost, glaspell, glasphalt, glass, glass block, glass can, glass ceiling, glass cliff, glass curtain

Definition for glasses (2 of 3)

Glass

[ glas, glahs ]

/ glæs, glɑs /

noun

Carter,1858–1946, U.S. statesman.

Philip,born 1937, U.S. composer.

Definition for glasses (3 of 3)

Google Glass

Trademark.

a computer that is worn like eyeglasses, has a tiny display within the field of vision, responds to voice commands and eye movements, and has a touchpad at the side: She's wearing Google Glass, and I think she just took your picture with it.

Also called Glass.

Example sentences from the Web for glasses

I get the bottle while he opens a desk drawer containing two glasses.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days |David Freeman |December 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Wonderland posted videos taken with a hidden camera—in a cross necklace, or inside a watch or glasses—of him hitting on women.

School Shooters Love This Pickup Artist Website |Brandy Zadrozny |December 5, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He turned around, not sure what to make of the girl in the glasses and NYU hoodie calling him like she knew him.

Mara Wilson Remembers Robin Williams: We're All His Goddamn Kids |Mara Wilson |August 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He did not wipe away the tears, but the long lenses of the television cameras showed him blinking them back behind his glasses.

What Would Jesus Do in Gaza? The Tears of Pope Francis Point the Way |Christopher Dickey |July 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Behind glass doors it displayed an assortment of glasses, stacked tea cups; a small row of books; a bouquet of fake flowers.

Baghdad’s Shia Militia Plans for War on ISIS |Jacob Siegel |July 16, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The dinner went on through its courses, and by degrees the red wine flew from the glasses to the faces.

Dorothy and other Italian Stories |Constance Fenimore Woolson
Celestine looked at the man behind his glasses, and understood the matter.

Bureaucracy |Honore de Balzac
Henricksen tore his glasses from his eyes, and emerging from the tent, groped on the desk for the weapon he had left there.

Under the Chinese Dragon |F. S. Brereton
We will direct our glasses to her room, at a point of time about six weeks further on.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845 |Various
The old boy beamed at me over his glasses as he vented a horrible chuckle; didn't seem to notice how painfully shocked I was.

The Haunted Pajamas |Francis Perry Elliott

British Dictionary definitions for glasses (1 of 3)

glasses

/ (ˈɡlɑːsɪz) /

pl n

a pair of lenses for correcting faulty vision, in a frame that rests on the bridge of the nose and hooks behind the ears Also called: spectacles, eyeglasses

British Dictionary definitions for glasses (2 of 3)

glass

/ (ɡlɑːs) /

noun

a hard brittle transparent or translucent noncrystalline solid, consisting of metal silicates or similar compounds. It is made from a fused mixture of oxides, such as lime, silicon dioxide, etc, and is used for making windows, mirrors, bottles, etc
(as modifier)a glass bottle Related adjectives: vitreous, vitric

any compound that has solidified from a molten state into a noncrystalline form

something made of glass, esp a drinking vessel, a barometer, or a mirror

Also called: glassful the amount contained in a drinking glass

glassware collectively

See volcanic glass

See fibreglass

verb (tr)

to cover with, enclose in, or fit with glass

informal to hit (someone) in the face with a glass or a bottle

Derived forms of glass

glassless, adjective glasslike, adjective

Word Origin for glass

Old English glæs; related to Old Norse gler, Old High German glas, Middle High German glast brightness; see glare 1

British Dictionary definitions for glasses (3 of 3)

Glass

/ (ɡlɑːs) /

noun

Philip. born 1937, US composer noted for his minimalist style: his works include Music in Fifths (1970), Akhnaten (1984), The Voyage (1992), and Monsters of Grace (1998); his film music includes scores for Kundun (1998), The Truman Show (1999), and The Hours (2002)

Medical definitions for glasses

glass

[ glăs ]

n.

Any of a large class of materials with highly variable mechanical and optical properties that solidify from the molten state without crystallization, are typically made by silicates fusing with boric oxide, aluminum oxide, or phosphorus pentoxide, are generally hard, brittle, and transparent or translucent, and are considered to be supercooled liquids rather than true solids.

Something usually made of glass, such as a window, mirror, or drinking vessel.

glasses A pair of lenses mounted in a light frame, used to correct faulty vision or protect the eyes. spectacles

A device, such as a monocle or spyglass, containing a lens or lenses and used as an aid to vision.

Scientific definitions for glasses

glass

[ glăs ]

A usually transparent or translucent material that has no crystalline structure yet behaves like a solid. Common glass is generally composed of a silicate (such as silicon oxide, or quartz) combined with an alkali and sometimes other substances. The glass used in windows and windshields, called soda glass, is made by melting a silicate with sodium carbonate (soda) and calcium oxide (lime). Other types of glass are made by adding other chemical compounds. Adding boron oxide causes some silicon atoms to be replaced by boron atoms, resulting in a tougher glass that remains solid at high temperatures, used for cooking utensils and scientific apparatuses. Glass used for decorative purposes often has iron in it to alter its optical properties.

A Closer Look

Common sand and glass are both made primarily of silicon and oxygen, yet sand is opaque and glass is transparent. Glass owes its transparency partly to the fact that it is not a typical solid. On the molecular level, solids usually have a highly regular, three-dimensional crystalline structure; the regularities distributed throughout the solid act as mirrors that scatter incoming light. Glass, however, consists of molecules which, though relatively motionless like a typical solid, are not arranged in regular patterns and thus exhibit little scattering; light passes directly through. At a specific temperature, called the melting point, the intermolecular forces holding together the components of a typical solid can no longer maintain the regular structure, which then breaks down, and the material undergoes a phase transition from solid to liquid. The phase transition in glass, however, depends on how quickly the glass is heated (or how quickly it cools), due to its irregular solid structure.

Idioms and Phrases with glasses (1 of 2)

glasses

see see through rose-colored glasses.

Idioms and Phrases with glasses (2 of 2)

glass

In addition to the idioms beginning with glass

glass ceiling
glass is half full, the

also see:

people who live in glass houses

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

glass