(plastics)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
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.
N-MASS: oft N n
2.
If you describe something as plastic, you mean that you think it looks or tastes unnatural or not real.
...plastic airline food...
ADJ [disapproval]
3.
If you use plastic or plastic money to pay for something, you pay for it with a credit card instead of using cash. (INFORMAL)
Using plastic to pay for an order is simplicity itself.
N-UNCOUNT
4.
Something that is plastic is soft and can easily be made into different shapes.
The mud is smooth, gray, soft, and plastic as butter.
ADJ
• plasticity
...the plasticity of the flesh.
N-UNCOUNT