Dental floss
Dental floss is a bundle of thin nylon filaments or a plastic (teflon or polyethylene) ribbon used to remove food and plaque from teeth. The floss is inserted between the teeth and scraped along the teeth sides, especially close to the gums. Dental floss comes both waxed and unwaxed.
Definition of Floss
floss [flaws, flos]
–noun
1. the cottony fiber yielded by the silk-cotton tree.
2. silk filaments with little or no twist, used in weaving as brocade or in embroidery.
3. any silky, filamentous matter, as the silk of corn.
4. dental floss.
–verb (used without object)
5. to use dental floss on the teeth.
–verb (used with object)
6. to clean (the teeth) with dental floss.
Also called floss silk (for defs. 1-3).
[Origin: 1750–60; prob. < F floche, as in soie floche floss silk, OF flosche down, velvet pile (of uncert. orig.)]