gauze

UK: /ˈgɔːz/ US: /gɔz/ ,(gôz)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

gauze /gɔz/   n. [uncountable]

1. Textiles any thin and often transparent fabric made from any fiber in a plain weave, esp. loosely woven cotton used as a dressing for wounds or surgery.

gauz•y, adj., -i•er, -i•est. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

gauze  (gôz), n. 

1. Textiles any thin and often transparent fabric made from any fiber in a plain or leno weave.
2. Medicine a surgical dressing of loosely woven cotton.
3. Textiles any material made of an open, meshlike weave, as of wire.
4. a thin haze.

• ?
• French gaze
• 1555–65

gauze′like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

gauze / ɡɔːz/ noun

1. a transparent cloth of loose plain or leno weave
2. a surgical dressing of muslin or similar material
3. any thin openwork material, such as wire
4. a fine mist or haze

Etymology: 16th Century: from French gaze, perhaps from Gaza, where it was believed to originate