Gossamer \Gos"sa*mer\, n. [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[aum]dchensommer, Altweibersommer,
fliegender Sommer, all meaning, gossamer.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any very thin gauzelike fabric; also, a thin waterproof
stuff.
[1913 Webster]
3. An outer garment, made of waterproof gossamer.
[1913 Webster]
Gossamer spider (Zool.), any small or young spider which
spins webs by which to sail in the air. See Ballooning
spider.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
gossamer
adj 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]
n 1: a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
2: filaments from a cobweb [syn: cobweb]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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