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gossamer

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

something very light, thin, or delicate; also a fine spider web.

Detailed Definition
Gossamer is a literary word for something extremely delicate and airy, often used for thin fabric or spider silk. Dickinson uses it to describe the speaker’s clothing, emphasizing fragility and lightness in the carriage ride toward death.
Example
Example in poetry:
Emily Dickinson writes, “For only Gossamer, my Gown – / My Tippet – only Tulle –,” using the delicate web-like fabric to imagine airy dress; Gossamer originally names the fine threads of spider silk seen in autumn, often associated with lightness and transience; “Gossamer nets of morning mist” uses the word metaphorically for something thin, floating, and fragile; In a contemporary poem, “gossamer screen-light over her hands” transfers the image from nature to technology
Additional Notes
The word "Gossamer" in the quoted line is a specialized literary term for something very fine or filmy, not an everyday word.; Found in the poem, Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
Other Meanings of “gossamer”
Also Known As
diaphanous delicate ethereal airy webby
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