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Definition of "gesso" [‖Ges•so]

  • A preparation of plaster of Paris and glue used as a base for low relief or as a surface for painting. (noun)
  • A surface of gesso. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "gesso" in a sentence
  • "Before applying the silkscreens to the wood beveled panels, she coats them with rabbit skin gesso, which helps to create the wonderful sense of luminosity her paintings possess."
  • "The crow on the back is black gesso from a stencil i cut, highlighted with paint marker."
  • "It has been suggested that she even introduced the Syrian practice of wearing wigs to the women of Rome, although several detachable marble hairpieces belonging to female sculptures from the early and mid-second century have been found, some with traces of a plaster adhesive called gesso that was presumably used to stick the marble wig to the head."