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gross

noun

  1. combined measurement including overhead (such as expenses or container weight)
  2. group of 144; a dozen dozen
L23454 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. earn profits
  2. examine or study for tissue changes as a whole and without the use of an aid (ie a microscope)
L23455 on Wikidata ↗

adjective

  1. combined measurement including overhead (such as expenses or container weight)
  2. complete, before deductions (financial sense only)
  3. conspicuous, flagrant
  4. disgusting, crude
  5. visible to the naked eye; be able to see without a microscope
L23456 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ɡɹəʊs/ / /ɡɹoʊs/ / /ɡɹɔs/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English gros (“large, thick, full-bodied; coarse, unrefined, simple”), from Old French gros, from Latin grossus (“big, fat, thick”, in Late Latin also “coarse, rough”), of uncertain further origin but perhaps related to Proto-Celtic *brassos (“great, violent”).

  1. remarkably great, big, vast in an often unpleasant way; (of behaviour) Highly or conspicuously offensive.

    a gross mistake; gross injustice; gross negligence; a gross insult

    Henry IV. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault: / On what condition stands it and wherein? / Edmund of Langley. Even in condition of the worst degree, / In gross rebellion and detested treason:

  2. Excluding any deductions; including all associated amounts.

    gross domestic product; gross income; gross weight

    What is the gross sum that I owe thee?

  3. Seen without a microscope (usually for a tissue or an organ); at a large scale; not detailed.

    gross anatomy

    We are accustomed to look for the gross and immediate effect and to ignore all else. Unless this appears promptly and in such obvious form that it cannot be ignored, we deny the existence of hazard.

  4. Causing disgust.

    I threw up all over the bed. It was totally gross.

    Mary Ann spent her lunch hour at Hastings, picking out just the right tie for Norman. The hint might not be terribly subtle, she decided, but somebody had to do something about that gross, gravy-stained clip-on number.

  5. Lacking refinement in behaviour or manner; offending a standard of morality.

    Pog. Forsooth my Maister said that hee loved her almost as well as hee loved parmasent, and swore […] that shee wanted such a Nose as his was, to be as pretty a young woeman, as was any in Parma. Do. Oh grose!

    Verjuice. She certainly has Talents. / Lady Sneerwell. But her manner is gross.

  6. Lacking refinement; not of high quality.

    The flowers of Rubens are gross and rude […]

    He scorned my wholesome kennel fare, toothing out dainties and leaving the grosser portions to be finished by the other dogs.

  7. Dense, heavy.

    ⁠Thy spirit ere our fatal loss / ⁠Did ever rise from high to higher; / ⁠As mounts the heavenward altar-fire, / As flies the lighter thro’ the gross.

  8. Heavy in proportion to one's height; having a lot of excess flesh.

    Kitty noticed that her sister’s pregnancy had blunted her features and in her black dress she looked gross and blousy.

    He collected a number of injuries that stopped him jousting, and then in middle age became stout, eventually gross.

  9. Difficult or impossible to see through.

    Couragious Lancaster, imbrace thy king, / And as grosse vapours perish by the sunne, / Euen so let hatred with thy soueraigne smile,

    For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

  10. Not sensitive in perception or feeling.

    For he is groſſe and like the maſſie earth, / That mooues not vpwards, nor by princely deeds / Doth meane to ſoare aboue the highest ſort.

    For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

  11. Easy to perceive.

    […] though the truth of it stands off as gross / As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it.

name

Etymology: * As a Jewish and German surname, from groß (“great, large”). The Jewish surname was influenced by Hebrew גדול (“big, large”), hence the Hebraicization Gadol. * As an English surname, from the noun and adjective gross, a doublet of above. The village is named after Ben Gross, who kept a general store there.

  1. A surname from Middle English, originally a nickname for a big man, from Middle English gros (“large”).

    This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, in today for Terry Gross.

  2. A village in Nebraska, having a population of two as of 2010.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English gros (“large, thick, full-bodied; coarse, unrefined, simple”), from Old French gros, from Latin grossus (“big, fat, thick”, in Late Latin also “coarse, rough”), of uncertain further origin but perhaps related to Proto-Celtic *brassos (“great, violent”).

  1. Twelve dozen = 144.

    We need to order three gross of torx screws for next week.

  2. The total amount (of goods, money, etc) before taxes, expenses, exceptions, tares, or similar deductions are subtracted.
  3. The bulk; the mass.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English gros (“large, thick, full-bodied; coarse, unrefined, simple”), from Old French gros, from Latin grossus (“big, fat, thick”, in Late Latin also “coarse, rough”), of uncertain further origin but perhaps related to Proto-Celtic *brassos (“great, violent”).

  1. To earn money, not including expenses.

    The movie grossed three million on the first weekend.

    The film grossed $464 million worldwide, ensconcing her in the Hollywood A-list.