GAUZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gauze mean? 

• GAUZE (noun)
  The noun GAUZE has 2 senses:

1. (medicine) bleached cotton cloth of plain weave used for bandages and dressings

2. a net of transparent fabric with a loose open weave

  Familiarity information: GAUZE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GAUZE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(medicine) bleached cotton cloth of plain weave used for bandages and dressings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

gauze; gauze bandage

Hypernyms ("gauze" is a kind of...):

cotton (fabric woven from cotton fibers)

Domain category:

medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gauze"):

petrolatum gauze (gauze saturated with petrolatum)

Holonyms ("gauze" is a part of...):

bandage; patch (a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body)

surgical dressing (a loosely woven cotton dressing for incisions made during surgery)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A net of transparent fabric with a loose open weave

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

gauze; netting; veiling

Hypernyms ("gauze" is a kind of...):

mesh; meshing; meshwork; net; network (an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gauze"):

cheesecloth (a coarse loosely woven cotton gauze; originally used to wrap cheeses)

gossamer (a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture)

Derivation:

gauzy (so thin as to transmit light)

 Context examples 

It was about us, veiling and hiding us in its dense wet gauze.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

If blood soaks through, add more gauze, keeping the first layer in place.

(First Aid, NIH)

Through the gauze curtain our eyes were all riveted upon the scene within.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The newborn was then swabbed with the gauze within the first 1–3 minutes after birth, starting with the mouth, then the face, and then the rest of the body.

(Restoring microbes in infants born by cesarean section, NIH)

She was dressed in green silk gauze and wore upon her flowing green locks a crown of jewels.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

You will flutter high, but your wings are of the finest gauze, dusted with the fairest pigments.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A chaplet of pearls sparkled amid her black hair, with a gauze of silver network flowing back from it over her shoulders; a black mantle was swathed round her, and she leaned back in her chair as one who is fresh from a journey.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To stop bleeding, apply firm but gentle pressure, using gauze.

(First Aid, NIH)

For the procedure, a sterile gauze pad was incubated in the mother’s birth canal an hour before the C-section.

(Restoring microbes in infants born by cesarean section, NIH)