Definition of "gold leaf"

But this Cobweb Lawn is too thin; a gold Leaf to cover the forgoing poison: For nothing is more plain, that he means, that the King is the Head Conspirator in all this slavery […]

1697, Remarks Upon a Scurrilous Libel‎

The streets of Nankin are sometimes strewed with gold leaf; very different are those of London: in the midst of their pavements, a great lazy puddle moves muddily along […]

1712, The miscellaneous works of Oliver Goldsmith‎, volume 4, page 11

I cannot take a better illustration of this than that of gold leaf, because it brings before us the reason of this apparent difference in the time of the fall.

1860 January 7, The Chemical News‎, page 55

After the gesso was quite smooth and even it was covered with thin layers of tempered bole, to form a colour ground under the gold leaf, and to provide a sleek, lustrous cushion for the under side of the gold to rest on while the burnisher was pressing on the top.

1956, Daniel Varney Thompson, The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting‎

Today, gold leaf can be machine-beaten to 0.1 micron and to 0.05 micron when beaten by a skilled craftsman.

2001, Milton Ohring, Materials Science of Thin Films‎, page xix