floss
/flɔs/noun, verb
floss is spelled F-L-O-S-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, floss means “A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of floss is flosses.
How many letters and syllables are in floss?
| Letters | 5: F-L-O-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is floss?
Floss appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce floss?
- UK /flɒs/
- US /flɔs/
- /flɑs/
Floss has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-floss.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-floss.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with floss?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as floss from its last stressed vowel (/ɔs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of floss
- flosses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- flossing participle, present
- flossed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does floss mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
- 2
Raw silk fibres.
- 3
The fibres covering a corncob etc.; the loose downy or silky material inside the husks of certain plants, such as beans.
- 4
Any thread-like material having parallel strands that are not spun or wound around each other.
embroidery floss
- 5
UKSpun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
- 6
A body feather of an ostrich.
Flosses are soft, and grey from the female and black from the male.
- 7
A dance move in which the dancer repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on each side.
- 8
UKA small stream of water.
- 9
Fluid glass floating on iron in the puddling furnace, produced by the vitrification of oxides and earths which are present.
- 10
ScotlandThe common rush (Juncus effusus).
verb
- 1
To clean the area between (the teeth) using floss.
I don't floss very often.
- 2
slangTo show off, especially by exhibiting one's wealth or talent.
- 3
To perform the floss dance move.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of free/libre/open source software.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Floss in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Rohseide, Seidenfaser , Maiskolbenfaser , Zuckerwatte |
| Portuguese | cabelo , usar fio dental |
| French | barbe à papa |
| Spanish | usar hilo dental, limpiarse con hilo dental |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.