gloss

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A brief explanatory note or translation of a difficult or technical expression usually inserted in the margin or between lines of a text or manuscript.
• noun A collection of such notes; a glossary.
• noun An extensive commentary, often accompanying a text or publication.
• noun A purposefully misleading interpretation or explanation.
• transitive verb To provide (an expression or a text) with a gloss or glosses.
• transitive verb To give a false interpretation to.
• noun A surface shininess or luster.
• noun A kind of paint that dries to a shiny finish.
• noun A cosmetic that adds shine or luster, such as lip gloss.
• noun A superficially or deceptively attractive appearance or good reputation.
• transitive verb To give a bright sheen or luster to.
• transitive verb To apply a gloss to.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun In leather manufacturing, a preparation which gives leather its final polish or finish.
• To explain by a gloss or marginal note; translate; hence, to render clear and evident by comments; illustrate; comment upon.
• Hence To give a specious appearance to; render specious and plausible; palliate by fabricated representation.
• To comment; write or make explanatory remarks.
• noun A word in the text of an author, especially a foreign author, requiring explanation.
• noun The explanation, translation, or definition of such a word; an explanatory note or remark upon some word or passage in a text, especially one written in the margin, or, as was the practice with the earliest glosses, between the lines.
• noun Hence An artfully misleading or false explanation.
• noun An abbreviation of glossary.
• noun A superficial lustrous smoothness, with soft changing reflections, due to the nature of the material, as distinguished from polish, which is artificially produced; in general, any glistening smoothness, natural or artificial: as, the gloss of satin, of hair, of paint, etc.
• noun Hence External show; a specious appearance or representation.
• To give a superficial luster to; make smooth and shining: as, to gloss cloth; to gloss a horse's coat.
• Hence To impart a specious appearance to; hide under a smooth false show.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To give a superficial luster or gloss to; to make smooth and shining.
• noun Brightness or luster of a body proceeding from a smooth surface; polish
• noun A specious appearance; superficial quality or show.
• intransitive verb To make comments; to comment; to explain.
• intransitive verb To make sly remarks, or insinuations.
• noun obsolete A foreign, archaic, technical, or other uncommon word requiring explanation.
• noun An interpretation, consisting of one or more words, interlinear or marginal; an explanatory note or comment; a running commentary.
• noun A false or specious explanation.
• transitive verb To render clear and evident by comments; to illustrate; to explain; to annotate.
• transitive verb To give a specious appearance to; to render specious and plausible; to palliate by specious explanation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun countable A brief explanatory note or translation of a difficult or complex expression, usually inserted in the margin or between lines of a text.
• noun countable A glossary; a collection of such notes.
• noun countable An extensive commentary on some text.
• noun countable A deliberately misleading explanation.
• noun countable A brief explanation in speech or in a written work, including a synonym used with the intent of indicating the meaning of the word to which it is applied
• noun countable (law, US) An interpretation by a court of specific point within a statute or case law
• verb transitive To add a gloss to (a text).
• verb transitive To give a deliberately false interpretation of.
• noun uncountable A surface shine or luster/lustre
• noun uncountable, figuratively A superficially or deceptively attractive appearance
• verb transitive To give a gloss or sheen to.
• verb transitive To make (something) attractive by deception
• verb intransitive To become shiny.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text