plastics

Definition of plastics in English English dictionary: plural of plastic; Polymers that can be molded or shaped, usually by heat and pressure. Most are lightweight, transparent, tough organic compounds that do not conduct electricity well. They fall into two classes: Thermoplastics (e.g., polyethylene, polystyrene) can be melted and formed again and again; thermosetting plastics, or thermosets (e.g., polyurethane, epoxy), once formed, are destroyed rather than melted by heating. Few plastics contain only the polymer resin; many also contain plasticizers (to change the melting point and make them softer), colorants, reinforcements, and fillers (to improve mechanical properties such as stiffness), and stabilizers and antioxidants (to protect against aging, light, or biological agents). Traditional plastics are not biodegradable (see biodegradability); recycling of plastics, especially thermoplastics, has become an important industry, and the development of low-cost biodegradable plastics and plastic substitutes is a significant pursuit of industrial research. Major commercial uses of plastics include cars, buildings, packaging, textiles, paints, adhesives, pipes, electrical and electronic components, prostheses, toys, brushes, and furniture. Common plastics include polyethylene terephthalate, or PET (beverage bottles), PVC (pipes and hoses), foamed polystyrene, or Styrofoam (insulated food containers), and Lucite (shatterproof windows). See also Leo Baekeland
plastics industry: an industry that manufactures plastic articles
plastic: Any solid but malleable substance
plastic: Inferior or not the real thing; ersatz
plastic: Capable of being moulded; malleable, flexible, pliant
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.
plastic: Fake, snobbish
Frustrated by a globalized music industry force-feeding them plastic pop music, hackers, remixers, and activists began to mobilize.
plastic: Producing tissue
plastic: A synthetic, thermoplastic, hydrocarbon-based polymer, solid material
plastic: Constructed of polymer
plastic: Capable of adapting to varying conditions; characterized by environmental adaptability
plastic: Creative, formative
plastic: A sculptor, moulder
plastic: Any similar synthetic material, not necessarily thermoplastic
plastic: {a} forming, able to form, creative
plastic: adj capable of being molded into any form which is retained
plastic: Constructed of plastic
plastic: A generic term for any polymer material Derived from the Greek word plasticos, which means to form or to make ductile
plastic: If you use plastic or plastic money to pay for something, you pay for it with a credit card instead of using cash. Using plastic to pay for an order is simplicity itself
plastic: Plastic is a material which is produced from oil by a chemical process and which is used to make many objects. It is light in weight and does not break easily. a wooden crate, sheltered from wetness by sheets of plastic A lot of the plastics that carmakers are using cannot be recycled. a black plastic bag
plastic: 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
plastic: High polymeric substances, including both natural & synthetic materials
plastic: 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
plastic: Literally, a material that can flow Used to describe polymers that can be shaped, molded, or milled
plastic: 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
plastic: from the Greek 'to mould': sculpture or other work formed in soft material such as clay by modelling or additive methods Such work should clearly differentiate from glyptic or carved processes
plastic: includes, but is not limited to; plastic bags, styrofoam cups and lids, six pack holders, stirrers, straws, milk jugs, egg cartons, synthetic nets, ropes, lines and bio or photo-degradable plastics
plastic: High polymeric substances, including both natural and synthetic products, but excluding the rubbers, that are capable in their manufacture of flowing under heat and pressure
plastic: (n ) common name for the material of which artificial holds are made
plastic: A material that contains one or more organic polymers of large molecular weight, is solid in its finished state, and, at some state in its manufacture or processing into finished articles, can be shaped by flow
plastic: capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of children"; "a pliant nature"
plastic: credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services
plastic: used of the imagination; "material transformed by the plastic power of the imagination"--Coleridge
plastic: A material that contains as an essential ingredient one or more organic polymeric substances of large molecular weight, is solid in its finished state, can be shaped by flow
plastic: coatings and adhesives used of the imagination; "material
plastic: capable of being molded or modeled (especially of earth or clay or other soft material); "plastic substances such as wax or clay"
plastic: High polymer substance, including both natural and synthetic products, yet excluding rubber that is capable of density flowing under heat and pressure
plastic: -Describes soil materials which are in a condition that allows them to undergo permanent deformation when force is applied without appreciable volume change or elastic rebound or without rupture
plastic: A combining form signifying developing, forming, growing; as, heteroplastic, monoplastic, polyplastic
plastic: A material that contains as an essential ingredient one or more organic polymeric substances of large molecular weights, is solid in its finished state, and, at some stage in its manufacture or processing into finished articles, can be shaped by flow
plastic: Capable of adapting to varying conditions: ecologically plastic animals,see Charles Darwin: Origin of Species
plastic: a solid material in the primary ingredient of which is an organic polymer of high molecular wight
plastic: High polymeric substances, including both natural and synthetic products, but excluding the rubbers that are capable of flowing under heat and pressure
plastic: A generic term for a range of high-molecular-weight polymers that can be used to produce a variety of items
plastic: {i} group of polymer substances, material derived from petroleum that is easily shaped and molded when heated; (Slang) credit cards
plastic: n common name for the material of which artificial holds are made
plastic: Something that is plastic is soft and can easily be made into different shapes. The mud is smooth, gray, soft, and plastic as butter. + plasticity plas·tic·ity the plasticity of the flesh
plastic: An adjective meaning pliable and capable of being shaped by pressure Often incorrectly used as a generic work for the plastics industry and its products
plastic: Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or plaster; used also figuratively; as, the plastic mind of a child
plastic: disapproval If you describe something as plastic, you mean that you think it looks or tastes unnatural or not real. plastic airline food
plastic: High polymeric substances, including both natural and synthetic products (but excluding rubbers) that are capable of flowing under heat and pressure at one time or another
plastic: a material containing a high polymer as an essential ingredient and which at some stage in its processing into a finished product can be shaped by flow
plastic: Any similar synthetic material
plastic: Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of matter; as, the plastic hand of the Creator
plastic: (1) One of many high-polymeric substances, including both natural and synthetic products, but excluding the rubbers At some stage in its manufacture, every plastic is capable of flowing, under heat and pressure if necessary, into the desired final shape (2) Made of plastic; capable of flow under pressure or tensile stress (Plastics Engineering Handbook of the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc , edited by Michael L Berins, 1991)
plastic: Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material
plastic: {s} flexible, pliant; made of plastic
plastic: A stiff but usually slightly flexible synthetic material, generally consisting of a hydrocarbon-based polymer
plastic: transformed by the plastic power of the imagination"--Coleridge capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of children"; "a pliant nature
plastic: Highly polymeric materials that deform under stress and temperature See Thermoset and Thermoplastic
plastic: Material, usually polymers developed from the by-products of oil refining and coal distillation, which, though stable in normal use, changes its shape when pressure or heat (or both) is applied If the materials soften again when reheated, they are said to be thermoplastic If, after fashioning, they resist further applications of heat, they are said to be thermoset
plastic: A high polymer material, often synthetic, that during manufacturing or processing can be extruded, molded, cast, drawn, or laminated into objects of all sizes and shapes by application of heat or pressure, by chemical condensation, or by casting during polymerization of monomers, which can retain its new shape under conditions of use