Floss

Description

1) A short, loosely twisted thread of Cotton or Silk used in embroidery and in the binding of single section pamphlets.

2) A strand of synthetic polymer, either Teflon® or nylon, produced commercially for cleaning teeth. The surface is usually coated with Wax. Unwaxed dental floss is used in conservation for cleaning narrow crevices.

Synonyms and Related Terms

1) Zahnseide (Deut.); tandzijde (Ned.); tandtråd (Sven.); vloszijde (Ned); floretzijde (Ned);

2) seda dental (Esp.)

Authority

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floss (Accessed Nov. 2, 2005)