made of glass
4
2.9
- adjective
:
hecho de vidrio
- The walls of the building were transparent, distinctly made of glass, which allowed natural light to flood the interior.
Examples
-
The investigators found several egg-shaped things made of glass and plastic.
Fiction book (2002) -
The address clearly marked on the computer-printed map I'm holding in my lap turns out to be an office building, sixteen stories high and made of glass, chiming shrilly in our eyes with early afternoon sunlight.
Fiction book (2002) -
"My conclusion: The house of business will be made of glass."
Blog text (6) -
The top is made of glass, so one can see the tiny corpse inside.
Fiction book (1999) -
Then the world is made of glass and could come splintering apart at any minute with one false step.
Fiction book (2002) -
When he looked at her in repose, he became convinced that she too was made of glass, like the glass case, and that he could see straight through her.
Fiction book (2002) -
They're made of glass, and their design has fundamentally not changed much since the fifteenth century.
Blog text (16) -
Their features include that they're stylish, also that they're made of glass, high quality, one year warranty and the product is extremely durable.
-
The inner atrium sliding walls are transparent, being made of glass, while all other sliding sections are varnished wood.
Blog text (21) -
Having a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, he sometimes wears noise-blocking headphones and is fascinated by anything made of glass.
Academic text (2015)
Antonyms
How Fragile
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'constructed or formed from glass' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'made' + 'of' + 'glass', so a B1 learner who knows those words will readily infer the literal sense. This compositional pattern (made of X) is cross-linguistically common and even the metaphorical extension to vulnerability or transparency is predictable from the literal image, so overall the expression is transparent.
Etymology
The phrase made of glass comes from the simple picture of something made from clear glass, like a vase that can easily break or a window that lets people see inside. So when we say someone or something is made of glass, we mean they are 'easy to hurt' or 'easy to see through'.