plastic

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
plastic/ˈplastɪk/

▶noun

• 1 a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., which can be moulded into shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form.

• 2 informal credit cards or other plastic cards that can be used as money.

▶adjective

• 1 made of plastic.

  ■ artificial; unnatural: long-distance flights with their plastic food.

• 2 easily shaped or moulded.

  ■ (in science and technology) relating to the permanent deformation of a solid without fracture by the temporary application of force.

• 3 (in art) relating to moulding or modelling in three dimensions, or to produce three-dimensional effects.

• 4 Biology exhibiting adaptability to change in the environment.

– derivatives
plastically adverb,
plasticity /plaˈstɪsɪti/ noun.

– origin C17: from Fr. plastique or L. plasticus, from Gk plastikos, from plassein ‘to mould’.