GOSSAMER • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Gossamer

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/gˈɑsəmər/ Listen

noun

Gossamer n.

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.

Any very thin gauzelike fabric; also, a thin waterproof stuff.

An outer garment, made of waterproof gossamer.

Gossamer spider (Zool.), any small or young spider which spins webs by which to sail in the air. See Ballooning spider.

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Etymology of 'Gossamer'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Gossamer" Quotes from Famous Books

... dozing through the sermon, with my head tumbling sleepily now and then against my father's shoulder. Slowly the scene comes back, in every least detail, the smallest sights and sounds of that morning all here, but all thin and faint and frail, spun of the gossamer web of memory. Can I hold them till they are set down? I shall have to eat another precious white lozenge ...

— Penguin Persons & Peppermints • Walter Prichard Eaton

... their cunning; he can read The inside of the earth, and spell the stars; He knows the policies of foreign lands; Can string you names of districts, cities, towns, 320 The whole world over, tight as beads of dew Upon a gossamer thread; he sifts, he weighs; All things are put to question; he must live Knowing that he grows wiser every day Or else not live at all, and seeing too 325 Each little drop of wisdom as it falls Into the dimpling cistern of his heart: For this unnatural growth the trainer blame, ...

— The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Vol. III • William Wordsworth

... wherefore fatal? I take this orange-bough, with its five leaves, Each equidistant on the upright stem; And I project them on a plane below, In the circumference of a circle drawn About a centre where the stem is planted, And each still equidistant from the other, As if a thread of gossamer were drawn Down from each leaf, and fastened with a pin. Now if from these five points a line be traced To each alternate point, we shall obtain The Pentagram, or Solomon's Pentangle, A charm against all witchcraft, and a sign, Which on the banner of ...

— The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... from England all alone?" asked the curious young customer, neglecting the blouse for her interest in the girl who spread out its gossamer body for approval. ...

— Betty Gordon at Mountain Camp • Alice B. Emerson

... the brooklet flows Melodious, and rejoicing as it goes; Past drooping ferns, and through the mazy whir Of insect wings of gold and gossamer. ...

— The Coming of the Princess and Other Poems • Kate Seymour Maclean

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