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gauze

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Gauze is a thin, loosely woven, transparent fabric or mesh; in poetry it often suggests veiling, delicacy, haze, or partial concealment.

Detailed Definition
Gauze is a light, open-woven material. The poem uses it metaphorically for the nautilus’s delicate shell structure, making the creature seem fragile and airy.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl” compares delicate tissue to translucent fabric; Gauze is a thin, open-woven cloth used for veils and bandages; “Morning wore a gauze of mist” makes weather tactile; A contemporary image: “Gauze clouds screened the eclipse.”
Additional Notes
The word is familiar in some contexts, but in this poem it appears in a specialized, figurative sense that readers may need to check.; Found in the poem, The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Also Known As
sheer translucent diaphanous light
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