What does glass mean?
Glass most often names a hard, usually transparent or translucent material made by fusing silica with other substances. Because it can be shaped while heated and then cooled into a smooth, solid form, it is used for windows, containers, optical equipment, and many household and industrial objects. The word also has several narrower meanings: one drinking vessel, a pane in a window, a quantity of drink, and, in the plural, spectacles. These meanings are related through the material’s long association with drinking vessels and windows. In conversation, “glass” can sound elegant or precise when referring to a material’s composition or finish, while phrases such as “glass ceiling” and “glass house” carry figurative associations with visibility, exposure, or vulnerability. As a verb, “glass” is less common and generally means to fit or cover something with glass. Its history is older than modern scientific glassmaking, with the English word inherited from Old English and ultimately linked to Germanic forms still recognizable in German and Dutch.
A hard, usually transparent or translucent material made primarily from fused silica. The word can also denote a drinking vessel, a window pane, spectacles, or an amount of drink served in a glass.
"She set a glass of lemonade on the table."
To fit or furnish with glass, or to cover or coat something with glass.
"They glassed the veranda to keep out the wind."
This use is relatively uncommon and often technical or formal.
“Glasses” commonly means drinking vessels or spectacles. The material itself is normally uncountable.
"She washed the glasses after dinner."
Although it is sometimes mistaken for a liquid, ordinary glass is an amorphous solid: rigid at room temperature while its internal structure lacks the regular pattern of a crystal.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
Related word forms
How glass is actually used
As a material, “glass” is usually uncountable. Countable uses include “a glass” for a drinking vessel and “glasses” for spectacles. The verb is comparatively formal and technical, as in “glazing” or “glassed-in” areas.
Easily confused with glass
Glass is the transparent or translucent material itself, whereas a glaze is a thin coating applied to pottery, tiles, or food.