from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Plastic \Plas"tic\ (pl[a^]s"t[i^]k), a. [L. plasticus, Gr. ?,
fr. ? to form, mold: cf. F. plastique.]
1. Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of
matter; as, the plastic hand of the Creator. --Prior.
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See plastic Nature working to his end. --Pope.
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2. Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or
plaster; -- used also figuratively; as, the plastic mind
of a child.
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3. 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.
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Medallions . . . fraught with the plastic beauty and
grace of the palmy days of Italian art. --J. S.
Harford.
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{Plastic clay} (Geol.), one of the beds of the Eocene period;
-- so called because used in making pottery. --Lyell.
{Plastic element} (Physiol.), one that bears within the germs
of a higher form.
{Plastic exudation} (Med.), an exudation thrown out upon a
wounded surface and constituting the material of repair by
which the process of healing is effected.
{Plastic foods}. (Physiol.) See the second Note under {Food}.
{Plastic force}. (Physiol.) See under {Force}.
{Plastic operation}, an operation in plastic surgery.
{Plastic surgery}, that branch of surgery which is concerned
with the repair or restoration of lost, injured, or
deformed parts of the body.
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