Plas"tic (plăs"t&ibreve;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.
See
plastic Nature working to his end.
Pope. 2. Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled, as clay or plaster; -- used also
figuratively; as, the plastic mind of a child.
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.
Medallions . .
. fraught with the plastic beauty and grace of the
palmy days of Italian art.
J. S. Harford. 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.
-plas"tic (-plăs"t&ibreve;k). [Gr. &?; fit for molding, plastic, fr. &?; to mold, to form.]
A combining form signifying developing, forming, growing; as,
heteroplastic, monoplastic, polyplastic.
Hear it pronounced