Gauze

//ɡɔːz// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A thin fabric with a loose, open weave. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a net of transparent fabric with a loose open weave wordnet
  3. 3
    A similar bleached cotton fabric used as a surgical dressing. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    (medicine) bleached cotton cloth of plain weave used for bandages and dressings wordnet
  5. 5
    A thin woven metal or plastic mesh. countable, uncountable
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Ellipsis of wire gauze abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  2. 7
    Mist or haze countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To apply a dressing of gauze
  2. 2
    To mist; to become gauze-like. literary

    "The wide plain gauzed into a sea on which the hut floated lonely."

Synonyms

All synonyms
ace bandageadhesive tapeapplicationbandband aidband-aid

Example

More examples

"This snow-flake grew larger and larger, till at last it became the figure of a woman, dressed in garments of white gauze, which looked like millions of starry snow-flakes linked together. She was fair and beautiful, but made of ice- shining and glittering ice. Still she was alive and her eyes sparkled like bright stars, but there was neither peace nor rest in their glance."

Etymology

Borrowed from French gaze, from Arabic قَزّ (qazz, “silk”).

Related phrases

gauze matgauze padwire gauzewire netting

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.