emboss

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive

   To press or stamp a design into paper, leather or metal so that it stands up from the surface.

   Grammar: Takes an object: emboss the cover with a logo.

   Patterns

   • emboss something with something
   • emboss something on something

   The printer will emboss the company crest on every certificate.

   She embossed a pattern of leaves into the leather belt.

   The cards were embossed with the family initials.

2. 2verbtransitivefigurativeliterary

   To fix something firmly in memory or record, as though pressed into it so that it stays.

   Grammar: Figurative and usually passive: the scene was embossed in his memory.

   Patterns

   • be embossed on something

   The wedding day was embossed on her memory forever.

   His name was embossed in the town's history by his charity work.

Word forms

Common combinations

embossed with a logo

The folder was embossed with a gold logo.

embossed paper

The invitation came on thick embossed paper.

emboss a seal

A notary will emboss a seal on the document.

embossed lettering

The embossed lettering on the sign caught the light.

emboss in gold

They offered to emboss the title in gold.

Synonyms and how they differ

stamp

Stamp can mean pressing any mark onto a surface, but it need not create a raised pattern as emboss does.

engrave

Engrave cuts a design down into a surface, whereas emboss raises it above.

imprint

Imprint stresses leaving a mark by pressure, and the mark may be flat or sunken.

print

Print puts ink onto a surface, with no raised shape.

Opposites

Word family

embossed adjective

decorated with a raised design

embossing noun

the process or result of raising a design

embosser noun

a tool or person that embosses

deboss verb

to press a design into a surface so it sinks in

Commonly confused: emboss or engrave?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “emboss”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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