Found 1 items, similar to Plastic element.
English → English (gcide) Definition: Plastic element 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. [1913 Webster] See plastic Nature working to his end. --Pope. [1913 Webster] 2. Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or plaster; -- used also figuratively; as, the plastic mind of a child. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Medallions . . . fraught with the plastic beauty and grace of the palmy days of Italian art. --J. S. Harford. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]