Meaning of plastic In English

• 0 an artificial substance that can be shaped when soft into many different forms and has many different uses:

  • He put a sheet of plastic over the broken window.

  • Those flowers aren't real - they're made of plastic.

  • The company has moved into plastics.

  • the plastics industry

• 1 credit cards or debit cards, rather than money in the form of notes, coins, or cheques:

  • I'd prefer a restaurant where they take plastic.

• 2 made of plastic:

  • a plastic bag/box/cup

• 3 artificial or false:

  • I hate the hostesses' false cheerfulness and plastic smiles.

• 4 soft enough to be changed into a new shape:

  • Clay is a very plastic material.

  • This metal is plastic at high temperatures.

• 5 any one of a group of materials made chemically and shaped into different forms for different uses:

  • [ U ] The cover of the book is actually made of plastic, though it looks like cloth.

  • [ C ] Plastics can be produced in the form of fibers or sheets and are used in building materials as well as in consumer goods.

• 6 soft enough to be shaped into different forms:

  • Clay is a plastic material.

• 7 credit cards or other bank cards that are used to pay for things rather than using cash:

  • Most people want the convenience of paying with plastic.