 |
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Gossamer \Gos"sa*mer\, noun [OE. gossomer, gossummer, gosesomer, perh. for goose summer, from its downy appearance, or perh. for God's summer, cf. G. mariengarr gossamer, properly Mary's yarn, in allusion to the Virgin Mary. Perhaps the E. word alluded to a legend that the gossamer was the remnant of the Virgin Mary's winding sheet, which dropped from her when she was taken up to heaven. For the use of summer in the sense of film or threads, cf. G. M["a]dchensommer, Altweibersommer, fliegender Sommer, all meaning, gossamer.]
1. A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders.
2. Any very thin gauzelike fabric; also, a thin waterproof stuff.
3. An outer garment, made of waterproof gossamer.
{Gossamer spider} (Zo["o]l.), any small or young spider which spins webs by which to sail in the air. See {Ballooning spider}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
gossamer
adjective
1: characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy; "this smallest and most ethereal of birds"; "gossamer shading through his playing" [syn: {ethereal}]
2: so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks" [syn: {diaphanous}, {filmy}, {gauzy}, {see-through}, {sheer}, {transparent}, {vaporous}, {cobwebby}]
noun
1: a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
2: filaments from a cobweb [syn: {cobweb}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
134 Moby Thesaurus words for "gossamer": air, airy, animal fiber, artificial fiber, attenuate, attenuated, boyish, bubble, cambric tea, capillament, chaff, chip, cilium, cirrus, clear, clear as crystal, cobweb, cork, crystal, crystal-clear, crystalline, dainty, delicate, denier, diaphane, diaphanous, diluted, dishwater, down, downy, dust, ether, ethereal, fairy, feather, fiber, fibrilla, filament, filamentule, filmy, fine, fine-drawn, fine-grained, finespun, flagellum, flimsy, flue, fluff, fluffy, foam, frail, froth, fuzz, fuzzy, gauzy, girlish, gossamery, gracile, gruel, hair, hank, house of cards, insubstantial, lacy, light, light-pervious, limpid, lucid, matchwood, milk and water, misty, mote, nonopaque, papery, peekaboo, pellucid, pubescent, rare, rarefied, reed, refined, revealing, rope of sand, sand castle, satin, satiny, see-through, sheer, silky, skein, slender, slenderish, slight, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slinky, small, smooth, sponge, spume, strand, straw, subtle, suture, svelte, sylphlike, tendril, tenuous, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, thinnish, thistledown, thread, threadlet, threadlike, transparent, transpicuous, unclouded, vague, velutinous, velvety, wasp-waisted, water, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, web, willowy, wiredrawn, wispy
 |
Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |