emboss

¹em·boss

transitive verb \im-ˈbäs, -ˈbȯs\

Definition of EMBOSS

archaic

: to drive (as a hunted animal) to bay or to exhaustion

Origin of EMBOSS

Middle English embosen to become exhausted from being hunted, ultimately from Anglo-French bois woods

First Known Use: 14th century

Rhymes with EMBOSS

bathos, benthos, bugloss, chaos, Chios, cosmos, Delos, demos, Ellás, en masse, Eos, epos, Eros, ethos, Hyksos, kaross, kudos, kvass, Lagos, Laos, Laplace, Lemnos, Lesbos, Logos, Madras, Melos, mythos, Naxos, Nepos, nol-pros, nonpros, pathos, peplos, Pharos, pit boss, pothos, ringtoss, Samos, Skyros, straw boss, telos, topos, tripos

²emboss

transitive verb

Definition of EMBOSS

1

: to raise the surface of into bosses; especially : to ornament with raised work

2

: to raise in relief from a surface

3

: adorn, embellish

— em·boss·able \-ˈbä-sə-bəl, -ˈbȯ-\ adjective

— em·boss·er \-sər\ noun

— em·boss·ment \-mənt\ noun

Origin of EMBOSS

Middle English embosen, from Middle French embocer, from en- + boce boss

First Known Use: 15th century

Other Fine Arts Terms

Gothic, baroque, bas-relief, limn, oeuvre, pastiche, rococo, sfumato