adj.
- unattractively large or bloated.
- vulgar; coarse.
▸informal very unpleasant; repulsive.
- blatantly wrong or unacceptable:
gross human rights abuses.
- (of income, profit, or interest) without deduction of tax or other contributions; total. Often contrasted with net2.
▸(of weight) including contents or other variable items; overall.
adv.
without tax or other contributions having been deducted.
v.
- produce or earn (an amount of money) as gross profit or income.
▸
(gross something up)
add deductions such as tax to a net amount.
-
(gross someone out)
N. Amer. informal disgust someone.
n.
(pl. same)
an amount equal to twelve dozen; 144.(pl. grosses)
a gross profit or income.
Derivative
- grossly adv.
- grossness n.
Etymology
ME (in the sense ‘thick, massive’): from OFr. gros, grosse ‘large’, from late L. grossus; sense 1 of the noun is from Fr. grosse douzaine, lit. ‘large dozen’.