GAUZE

Meaning

A thin fabric with a loose, open weave.

• verbTo apply a dressing of gauze

GAUZE as a word-puzzle answer

GAUZE is a 5-letter word with 3 vowels (A, U, E) and 2 consonants (G, Z). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (A, E), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. Watch for the less-common letter Z — saving a guess to test it once the vowels are placed is usually the fastest route.