Definitions | plastic |
| noun
- A stiff but usually slightly flexible synthetic material, generally consisting of a hydrocarbon-based polymer.
- Any similar synthetic material.
- (slang) credit card, credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.
adjective
- Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material.
- Capable of adapting to varying conditions: ecologically plastic animals,see Charles Darwin: Origin of Species.
- Constructed of plastic.
- Inferior or not the real thing; ersatz (italbrac, especially when made of plastic instead of an alterate material).
Etymology: From (term, plasticus, , of molding, lang=la), from (term, , tr=plastikos, lang=el), from (term, , tr=plassein, , to mold, form, lang=el).The common sense of plastic as a material was derived by shortening the term thermoplastic, a term used to describe that subset of common plastics that soften when heated. (The other major subset of plastics is the thermosetting plastics, Bakelite being the best known example.
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Full Definition of plastic
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