Plas"ma (?), n. [See Plasm.]
1. (Min.) A variety of quartz, of a color between grass green and leek green, which is found associated with common chalcedony. It was much
esteemed by the ancients for making engraved ornaments.
2.
(Biol.) The viscous material of an animal
or vegetable cell, out of which the various tissues are formed by a process of differentiation; protoplasm.
3.
Unorganized material; elementary matter.
4. (Med.)
A mixture of starch and
glycerin, used as a substitute for ointments. U. S. Disp.
Blood plasma (Physiol.), the colorless fluid of the
blood, in which the red
and white blood corpuscles are
suspended. -- Muscle plasma (Physiol.), the fundamental part of muscle fibers, a thick, viscid, albuminous fluid contained
within the sarcolemma, which on the death
of the muscle coagulates to a semisolid mass.
Hear it pronounced