glove

Pluralgloves

Formsgloves, gloving, gloved

1. 1
   nouncountable

   An item of clothing that covers all or part of the hand and fingers, usually allowing the fingers to move independently.

   He lost a glove on the train and spent days hunting for its match.

   Workers handling harsh chemicals must wear protective gloves at all times.

   Note

   The everyday sense, and the one the word's history explains: Old English glōf goes back to a Germanic compound of a collective prefix and lōfô, "the flat of the hand, palm." The idea was a covering gathered around the palm. The "usually" matters. A boxer's glove holds the fingers together, yet it still takes the name. Gloves come in pairs and are counted that way: a pair of gloves.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A padded leather mitt worn by a baseball player to catch the ball.

   She snagged the fly ball with her glove and fired it home.

   Catchers use larger, more heavily padded gloves than infielders do.

   Similarmitt

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To put a glove or gloves onto the hand.

   Surgeons glove their hands immediately after scrubbing in.

   He gloved his fingers carefully before handling the fragile artifact.

   Note

   The everyday verb can take either the hand or the whole person as its object. Someone glows a hand, or a servant gloves a child. David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (2004) pairs it with its neighbor in dressing: the maids "hatted and gloved the girls." The past participle often serves as an adjective, as in a gloved hand.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   In baseball, to catch the ball with one's mitt.

   She gloved the sharp line drive without flinching.

   Shortstops must glove tricky hops off the infield dirt.

   Similarcatch, field, snag

   Note

   A fielder's verb that takes the ball or the hit as its object: he gloved the line drive. It forms the regular past, gloved. The same spelling has the opposite feel in cricket. There, the batsman's gloving is a mishap that can cost a wicket, while in baseball gloving the ball is the point of the play.

5. 5
   nounfigurativelyuncountable

   Skill or ability in catching a batted ball.

   His bat is weak, but his glove keeps him in the starting lineup.

   Scouts raved about the rookie's glove at shortstop.

   Similarfielding, defense

   Note

   Baseball talk names a player's fielding after the equipment that does the work, the mitt itself. It nearly always comes with a judging adjective, as in a great glove or a good glove. A player is said to have one, often in contrast with the hitting he lacks. It is a scout's and commentator's word, and it is always about skill rather than leather.

6. 6
   nouncountablewith the

   A challenge issued from one person to another.

   The young knight flung his glove at the champion's feet as a challenge.

   No one in the hall dared take up the glove he had cast down.

   Similargauntlet, challenge

   Note

   A challenge that lives almost entirely inside two fixed phrases, both taking the definite article. To throw down the glove is to issue the challenge, and to take up the glove is to accept it. The glove stands for the challenge, so the verbs carry the drama. Outside these phrases the sense rarely appears. Without "the," a listener will hear an ordinary glove.

7. 7
   nounslangcountable

   In slang, a condom.

   He fished a glove out of the drawer before turning off the light.

   "If you're going to sleep with him, make sure he wears a glove," her older sister warned.

   Similarcondom, rubber

   Note

   Slang that moves the clothing word onto a sheath of a more intimate kind. It belongs to casual, often joking talk between people who know each other. In medical, educational or formal writing, condom is the clear choice. Because "wear a glove" can also be literal, the slang sense depends on the situation to be understood.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   In cricket, to touch a delivery with the glove while the gloved hand is on the bat, so the batsman counts as having hit the ball.

   She gloved the lifting delivery, and the keeper took an easy catch.

   Tail-enders sometimes glove fast deliveries down the leg side.

   Note

   Here the glove counts as part of the bat. Because the hand is on the handle, the rules treat contact as a hit. A gloved ball that carries to a fielder can therefore be caught, and the batsman is out. The verb takes the delivery as its object, as in she gloved the lifting delivery. It usually describes an awkward, unintended touch, not a stroke.

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