Plastic
WordNet
adjective
(1) Forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning
"A formative influence"
"A formative experience"
(2) Capable of being molded or modeled (especially of earth or clay or other soft material)
"Plastic substances such as wax or clay"
(3) Capable of being influenced or formed
"The plastic minds of children"
"A pliant nature"
noun
(4) 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
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From , from , from .
Noun
- A sculptor, moulder.
- Any solid but malleable substance.
- A synthetic, thermoplastic, hydrocarbon-based polymer, solid material.
- Any similar synthetic material, not necessarily thermoplastic.
- credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.
Adjective
- Capable of being moulded; malleable, flexible, pliant.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 103:
- the rage [...] betook itself at last to certain missile weapons; which, though from their plastic nature they threatened neither the loss of life or of limb, were, however, sufficiently dreadful to a well-dressed lady.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 103:
- Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material.
- Creative, formative.
- Capable of adapting to varying conditions; characterized by environmental adaptability.
- Producing tissue.
- Constructed of polymer.
- Inferior or not the real thing; ersatz.
- 2008, Matt James Mason, The pirate's dilemma: how youth culture is reinventing capitalism
- Frustrated by a globalized music industry force-feeding them plastic pop music, hackers, remixers, and activists began to mobilize...