# floss

> English word · Noun · IPA /flɒs/ · frequency rank #22,974

## Definitions
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.
5. Spun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
6. A body feather of an ostrich.
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.

## Etymology
Unclear:
* Possibly from French floche (“tuft of wool”), from floc, from Old French flosche (“down, velvet”), from Latin floccus (“piece of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokkō (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkô (“down, piece of wool, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”).
* Or, from Middle English *flos (attested in Middle English Flosmonger (a surname)), from Proto-West Germanic *fleus, related to English fleece.
Cognate with Old High German flocko (“down”), Middle Dutch vlocke (“flock”), Norwegian dialectal flugsa (“snowflake”), Dutch flos (“plush”) (tr=17c.).

## Easily confused with
- **flow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-flow)
- **fuss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-fuss)
- **foes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-foes)
- **FOSS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-foss)
- **foods** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-foods)
- **flows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-flows)
- **flour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-flour)
- **frost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-frost)
- **fools** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-fools)
- **flown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-flown)
- **Floyd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-floyd)
- **flush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-flush)
- **fossa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floss-vs-fossa)
- **Flo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flo-vs-floss)
- **flop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flop-vs-floss)
- **flor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flor-vs-floss)
- **flog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-floss)
- **fess** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fess-vs-floss)
- **floor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/floor-vs-floss)
- **flash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flash-vs-floss)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ffloss`, `flloss`, `flos`, `flsos`, `folss`, `lfoss`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/floss