What is "glass"

Glass \Glass\ (gl[.a]s), n. [OE. glas, gles, AS. gl[ae]s; akin to D., G., Dan., & Sw. glas, Icel. glas, gler, Dan. glar; cf. AS. gl[ae]r amber, L. glaesum. Cf. Glare, n., Glaze, v. t.]

1. A hard, brittle, translucent, and commonly transparent substance, white or colored, having a conchoidal fracture, and made by fusing together sand or silica with lime, potash, soda, or lead oxide. It is used for window panes and mirrors, for articles of table and culinary use, for lenses, and various articles of ornament.

   Note: Glass is variously colored by the metallic oxides; thus, manganese colors it violet; copper (cuprous), red, or (cupric) green; cobalt, blue; uranium, yellowish green or canary yellow; iron, green or brown; gold, purple or red; tin, opaque white; chromium, emerald green; antimony, yellow.

2. (Chem.) Any substance having a peculiar glassy appearance, and a conchoidal fracture, and usually produced by fusion.

3. Anything made of glass. Especially:

   1. A looking-glass; a mirror.

   2. A vessel filled with running sand for measuring time; an hourglass; and hence, the time in which such a vessel is exhausted of its sand.

      She would not live The running of one glass.
      --Shak.

   3. A drinking vessel; a tumbler; a goblet; hence, the contents of such a vessel; especially; spirituous liquors; as, he took a glass at dinner.

   4. An optical glass; a lens; a spyglass; -- in the plural, spectacles; as, a pair of glasses; he wears glasses.

   5. A weatherglass; a barometer. Note: Glass is much used adjectively or in combination; as, glass maker, or glassmaker; glass making or glassmaking; glass blower or glassblower, etc. Bohemian glass, Cut glass, etc. See under Bohemian, Cut, etc. Crown glass, a variety of glass, used for making the finest plate or window glass, and consisting essentially of silicate of soda or potash and lime, with no admixture of lead; the convex half of an achromatic lens is composed of crown glass; -- so called from a crownlike shape given it in the process of blowing. Crystal glass, or Flint glass. See Flint glass, in the Vocabulary. Cylinder glass, sheet glass made by blowing the glass in the form of a cylinder which is then split longitudinally, opened out, and flattened. Glass of antimony, a vitreous oxide of antimony mixed with sulphide. Glass cloth, a woven fabric formed of glass fibers. Glass coach, a coach superior to a hackney-coach, hired for the day, or any short period, as a private carriage; -- so called because originally private carriages alone had glass windows. [Eng.] --Smart. Glass coaches are [allowed in English parks from which ordinary hacks are excluded], meaning by this term, which is never used in America, hired carriages that do not go on stands. --J. F. Cooper. Glass cutter.

      1. One who cuts sheets of glass into sizes for window panes, ets.

      2. One who shapes the surface of glass by grinding and polishing.

      3. A tool, usually with a diamond at the point, for cutting glass. Glass cutting.

         1. The act or process of dividing glass, as sheets of glass into panes with a diamond.

         2. The act or process of shaping the surface of glass by appylying it to revolving wheels, upon which sand, emery, and, afterwards, polishing powder, are applied; especially of glass which is shaped into facets, tooth ornaments, and the like. Glass having ornamental scrolls, etc., cut upon it, is said to be engraved.

            Glass metal, the fused material for making glass.

            Glass painting, the art or process of producing decorative effects in glass by painting it with enamel colors and combining the pieces together with slender sash bars of lead or other metal. In common parlance, glass painting and glass staining (see Glass staining, below) are used indifferently for all colored decorative work in windows, and the like.

            Glass paper, paper faced with pulvirezed glass, and used for abrasive purposes.

            Glass silk, fine threads of glass, wound, when in fusion, on rapidly rotating heated cylinders.

            Glass silvering, the process of transforming plate glass into mirrors by coating it with a reflecting surface, a deposit of silver, or a mercury amalgam.

            Glass soap, or Glassmaker's soap, the black oxide of manganese or other substances used by glass makers to take away color from the materials for glass.

            Glass staining, the art or practice of coloring glass in its whole substance, or, in the case of certain colors, in a superficial film only; also, decorative work in glass. Cf. Glass painting.

            Glass tears. See Rupert's drop.

            Glass works, an establishment where glass is made.

            Heavy glass, a heavy optical glass, consisting essentially of a borosilicate of potash.

            Millefiore glass. See Millefiore.

            Plate glass, a fine kind of glass, cast in thick plates, and flattened by heavy rollers, -- used for mirrors and the best windows.

            Pressed glass, glass articles formed in molds by pressure when hot.

            Soluble glass (Chem.), a silicate of sodium or potassium, found in commerce as a white, glassy mass, a stony powder, or dissolved as a viscous, sirupy liquid; -- used for rendering fabrics incombustible, for hardening artificial stone, etc.; -- called also water glass.

            Spun glass, glass drawn into a thread while liquid.

            Toughened glass, Tempered glass, glass finely tempered or annealed, by a peculiar method of sudden cooling by plunging while hot into oil, melted wax, or paraffine, etc.; -- called also, from the name of the inventor of the process, Bastie glass.

            Water glass. (Chem.) See Soluble glass, above.

            Window glass, glass in panes suitable for windows.

Glass \Glass\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Glassed; p. pr. & vb. n. Glassing.]

1. To reflect, as in a mirror; to mirror; -- used reflexively.

   Happy to glass themselves in such a mirror.
   --Motley.

   Where the Almighty's form glasses itself in tempests.
   --Byron.

2. To case in glass. [R.]
   --Shak.

3. To cover or furnish with glass; to glaze.
   --Boyle.

4. To smooth or polish anything, as leater, by rubbing it with a glass burnisher.

Old English glæs "glass, a glass vessel," from Proto-Germanic *glasam (cognates: Old Saxon glas, Middle Dutch and Dutch glas, German Glas, Old Norse gler "glass, looking glass," Danish glar), from PIE *ghel- (2) "to shine," with derivatives referring to bright materials and gold (cognates: Latin glaber "smooth, bald," Old Church Slavonic gladuku, Lithuanian glodus "smooth"), with derivatives referring to colors and bright materials, a word that is the root of widespread words for gray, blue, green, and yellow (such as Old English glær "amber," Latin glaesum "amber," Old Irish glass "green, blue, gray," Welsh glas "blue;" see glass). Sense of "drinking glass" is early 13c.\n

\nThe glass slipper in "Cinderella" is perhaps an error by Charles Perrault, translating in 1697, mistaking Old French voir "ermine, fur" for verre "glass." In other versions of the tale it is a fur slipper. The proverb about people in glass houses throwing stones is attested by 1779, but earlier forms go back to 17c.:\n\nWho hath glass-windows of his own must take heed how he throws stones at his house. ... He that hath a body made of glass must not throw stones at another.

[John Ray, "Handbook of Proverbs," 1670]

late 14c., "to fit with glass;" 1570s, "to cover with glass," from glass (n.). Related: Glassed; glassing.\n

n. (lb en uncountable) An amorphous solid, often transparent substance made by melting sand with a mixture of soda, potash and lime. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To furnish with glass; to glaze. 2 (context transitive English) To enclose with glass. 3 (label en transitive UK colloquial) To strike (someone), particularly in the face, with a drinking glass with the intent of causing injury. 4 (label en video games) To bombard an area with such intensity (nuclear bomb, fusion bomb, etc) as to melt the landscape into glass. 5 To view through an optical instrument such as binoculars. 6 To smooth or polish (leather, etc.), by rubbing it with a glass burnisher. 7 (context archaic reflexive English) To reflect; to mirror.

1. v. furnish with glass; "glass the windows" [syn: glaze]

2. scan (game in the forest) with binoculars

3. enclose with glass; "glass in a porch" [syn: glass in]

4. put in a glass container

5. become glassy or take on a glass-like appearance; "Her eyes glaze over when she is bored" [syn: glaze, glass over, glaze over]

1. n. a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure

2. a glass container for holding liquids while drinking [syn: drinking glass]

3. the quantity a glass will hold [syn: glassful]

4. a small refracting telescope [syn: field glass, spyglass]

5. amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant [syn: methamphetamine, methamphetamine hydrochloride, Methedrine, meth, deoxyephedrine, chalk, chicken feed, crank, ice, shabu, trash]

6. a mirror; usually a ladies' dressing mirror [syn: looking glass]

7. glassware collectively; "She collected old glass"

Glass is an amorphous material commonly used in windows, tableware, optoelectronics, and decorative items.

Glass or Glasses may also refer to:

• Glass (drinkware), a drinking vessel
• Glasses, spectacles or eyeglasses

Glass is a 2003 EP by The Sea and Cake.

Glass is a 1958 Dutch short documentary film by director and producer Bert Haanstra. The film won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject in 1959. The film is about the glass industry in the Netherlands. It contrasts the handmade crystal from the Royal Leerdam Glass Factory with automated bottle making machines. Short segments of artisans making various glass goods by hand are joined with those of mass production. It is often acclaimed to be the perfect short documentary.

Glass is the second indie album by Index Case, released in 2002.

Glass is a progressive rock trio from the Pacific Northwest who play complex original instrumental symphonic jazz-rock. The group consists of Greg Sherman (born 1954) on keyboards, vibes & Mellotron, his brother Jeff Sherman (b. 1952) on bass guitar, guitar, bass pedals and keyboards, and their childhood friend Jerry Cook (b. 1953) on drums and percussion.

Glass is the second novel in the verse novel series Crank by Ellen Hopkins, published in hardcover in August 2007 and in softcover on April 7, 2009. The third book of the series, Fallout, was published in 2010. Like the previous novel in the series, Glass has been the subject of controversy, with the book being partially responsible for a public appearance by Hopkins getting cancelled due to parental complaints.

"Glass" is a song recorded by American country music duo Thompson Square. It was released in January 2012 as the fourth single from their self-titled debut album. The song was written by Ross Copperman and Jon Nite.

Glass is a 1989 Australian erotic thriller which was the feature debut of Chris Kennedy.

Glass is a standalone single released by From Her Eyes on 21 September 2015, being preceded by the bands EP Demons. This also marked the finally studio release by the band, disbanding in early 2016.

Glass is a non- crystalline amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative usage in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optoelectronics. Scientifically, the term "glass" is often defined in a broader sense, encompassing every solid that possesses a non-crystalline (that is, amorphous) structure at the atomic scale and that exhibits a glass transition when heated towards the liquid state.

The most familiar, and historically the oldest, types of glass are "silicate glasses" based on the chemical compound silica (silicon dioxide, or quartz), the primary constituent of sand. The term glass, in popular usage, is often used to refer only to this type of material, which is familiar from use as window glass and in glass bottles. Of the many silica-based glasses that exist, ordinary glazing and container glass is formed from a specific type called soda-lime glass, composed of approximately 75% silicon dioxide (SiO), sodium oxide (NaO) from sodium carbonate (NaCO), calcium oxide, also called lime (CaO), and several minor additives. A very clear and durable quartz glass can be made from pure silica, but the high melting point and very narrow glass transition of quartz make glassblowing and hot working difficult. In glasses like soda lime, the compounds added to quartz are used to lower the melting temperature and improve workability, at a cost in the toughness, thermal stability, and optical transmittance.

Many applications of silicate glasses derive from their optical transparency, which gives rise to one of silicate glasses' primary uses as window panes. Glass will transmit, reflect and refract light; these qualities can be enhanced by cutting and polishing to make optical lenses, prisms, fine glassware, and optical fibers for high speed data transmission by light. Glass can be colored by adding metallic salts, and can also be painted and printed with vitreous enamels. These qualities have led to the extensive use of glass in the manufacture of art objects and in particular, stained glass windows. Although brittle, silicate glass is extremely durable, and many examples of glass fragments exist from early glass-making cultures. Because glass can be formed or molded into any shape, and also because it is a sterile product, it has been traditionally used for vessels: bowls, vases, bottles, jars and drinking glasses. In its most solid forms it has also been used for paperweights, marbles, and beads. When extruded as glass fiber and matted as glass wool in a way to trap air, it becomes a thermal insulating material, and when these glass fibers are embedded into an organic polymer plastic, they are a key structural reinforcement part of the composite material fiberglass. Some objects historically were so commonly made of silicate glass that they are simply called by the name of the material, such as drinking glasses and reading glasses.

In science, porcelains and many polymer thermoplastics familiar from everyday use are glasses too. These sorts of glasses can be made of quite different kinds of materials than silica: metallic alloys, ionic melts, aqueous solutions, molecular liquids, and polymers. For many applications, like glass bottles or eyewear, polymer glasses ( acrylic glass, polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate) are a lighter alternative than traditional glass.

Glass or Glaß is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Alice Glass (born 1988), vocalist of Crystal Castles
• H. Bentley Glass (1906–2005), American geneticist
• Butch Glass (1898–1972), American Negro League baseball player
• Caitlin Glass (born 1981), American voice actress
• Carter Glass (1858–1946), American politician
• Charles Glass, American broadcaster
• Darren Glass (born 1981), Australian rules footballer
• David D. Glass, Kansas City Royals owner
• David Glass (Canadian politician) (1829–1906), Canadian lawyer
• David Glass (sociologist) (1911–1978), English sociologist
• Deborah Glass, Deputy Chair of the UK's Independent Police Complaints Commission
• Franklin Potts Glass, Sr. (1858–1934), American publisher
• Fridolin Glass (1910–1943), Austrian Nazi activist and SS officer
• Gene V. Glass (born 1940), American statistician and education researcher
• George Glass (1910–1984), American film producer and publicist
• Gerald Glass (born 1967), American former basketball player
• Geri Glass (born 1949), American model
• Harold Glass (1918–1989), Australian judge and jurist
• Harry Glaß (1930–1997), German ski jumper
• Helen Glass (born 1917), Canadian nurse and educator
• Henry Glass (disambiguation), several people with this name
• Henry Glaß (born 1953), German ski jumper
• Henry Glass (admiral), Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy
• Henry P. Glass, Austrian-born American architect and industrial designer
• Hugh Glass (1780–1833), fur trapper and frontiersman
• Ira Glass (born 1959), host of This American Life
• Jeff Glass (athlete) (born 1962), Canadian hurdler
• Jeff Glass (ice hockey) (born 1985), American Hockey League goaltender
• Jesse Glass (born 1954), American writer and poet
• Jimmy Glass (born 1973), English former football goalkeeper
• Joanna Glass (born 1936), Canadian playwright
• Julia Glass (born 1956), American writer
• Kim Glass (born 1984), American volleyball player
• Leslie Glass (model) (1963–2000), American model and porn performer
• Louis Glass (1864–1936), Danish composer
• Max Glass (1881-1965), Austrian film producer
• Pat Glass (born 1957), British politician (MP for North West Durham)
• Philip Glass (born 1937), minimalist composer
• Presley T. Glass (1824–1902), American politician
• Ron Glass (born 1945), American actor
• Shaun Glass, guitarist for the band SOiL
• Solomon Glass (1893–1973), philatelist of Baltimore, Maryland
• Stephen Glass (born 1972), disgraced journalist
• Stephen Glass (footballer) (born 1976), Scottish footballer
• Tanner Glass (born 1983), Pittsburgh Penguins center
• Todd Glass (born 1964), American Stand-up Comedian
• Walter Glaß (1905–1981), German skier

A number of J. D. Salinger's short stores also featured members of a fictional Glass family.