Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - gloss

 I. noun  Etymology: akin to Middle High German glosen to glow, shine; akin to Old English geolu yellow  Date: 1538  1. a surface luster or brightness ; shine  2.  a. a deceptively attractive appearance selfishness that had a ~ of humanitarianism about it  b. bright often superficial attractiveness show-biz ~  3. a transparent cosmetic preparation for adding shine and usually color to the lips  II. transitive verb  Date: 1656  1.  a. to mask the true nature of ; give a deceptively attractive appearance to — used with over the misery was general, where not ~ed over by liberal application of alcohol — Marston Bates  b. to deal with (a subject or problem) too lightly or not at all — used with over ~es over scholarly controversies rather than confronting them head-on — John Israel  2. to give a ~ to  III. noun  Etymology: alteration of gloze, from Middle English glose, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin glosa, ~a, from Greek glossa, glotta tongue, language, obscure word; akin to Greek glochis projecting point  Date: 1548  1.  a. a brief explanation (as in the margin or between the lines of a text) of a difficult or obscure word or expression  b. a false and often willfully misleading interpretation (as of a text)  2.  a. ~ary  b. an interlinear translation  c. a continuous commentary accompanying a text  3. commentary, interpretation  IV. transitive verb  Date: 1603  1.  a. to provide a ~ for ; explain, define  b. interpret  2. to dispose of by false or perverse interpretation trying to ~ away the irrationalities of the universe — Irwin Edman