Plastic
['plæstɪk]
Definition
(noun.) generic name for certain synthetic or semisynthetic materials that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or filaments or used for making e.g. coatings and adhesives.
(adj.) capable of being influenced or formed; 'the plastic minds of children'; 'a pliant nature' .
Checked by Alfreda--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of matter; as, the plastic hand of the Creator.
(a.) Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or plaster; -- used also figuratively; as, the plastic mind of a child.
(a.) Pertaining or appropriate to, or characteristic of, molding or modeling; produced by, or appearing as if produced by, molding or modeling; -- said of sculpture and the kindred arts, in distinction from painting and the graphic arts.
(n.) a substance composed predominantly of a synthetic organic high polymer capable of being cast or molded; many varieties of plastic are used to produce articles of commerce (after 1900). [MW10 gives origin of word as 1905]
Checked by Cathy
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Formative.[2]. Soft, pliable, easily moulded.
Inputed by Angela
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Ductile, pliant, yielding, malleable, tractile, flexible
ANT:Stubborn, unyielding, inert, unmalleable, inflexible, intractile
Checked by Chiquita
Definition
adj. having power to give form to: capable of being moulded: of or pertaining to moulding.—ns. Plastic′ity state or quality of being plastic; Plastilī′na a modelling clay which remains soft and plastic for a considerable time; Plastog′raphy imitation of handwriting.
Checker: Thelma
Examples
- When the iron parts with its carbon it loses its fluidity and becomes plastic and coherent, and is formed into balls called _blooms_. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- A motion-picture film is a thin ribbon of transparent pyroxylin plastic or nitrocellulose, which is highly inflammable. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- In 1838 Prof. Jacobi announced his galvano-plastic process for the production of electrotype plates for printing. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The whole organisation seems to have become plastic, and departs in a slight degree from that of the parental type. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Consequently play is free, plastic. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- By the high pressures, or stresses given by the hydraulic press it was learned that cold metals have plasticity and can be moulded or stretched like other plastic bodies. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- This material is prepared in a plastic form so that it can be forced under pressure into every line and indentation on the face of the matrix. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The sheets of rubber from which the uppers and soles are cut are at this stage of the work plastic and very sticky. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Gerald was much heavier and more plastic. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Under domestication, it may truly be said that the whole organisation becomes in some degree plastic. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The dampened and plastic papier maché sheets are beaten into the face of the type form by means of brushes, are then removed, dried, and used as moulds to cast the stereotype plate from. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- In the latter case the organisation seems to become plastic, and we have much fluctuating variability. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- There were all the after days when her hands, like birds, could feed upon the fields of him mystical plastic form--till then enough. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Jacobi’s Galvano-plastic process for making Electrotype Printing Plates. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- A beautiful literature was produced; the plastic arts flourished, and the foundations of modern science were laid. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In plastics there are brick machines, pressed glass ware, enameled sheet iron ware, tiles, paper buckets, celluloid and rubber articles. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Inputed by Elsa