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Glite Dictionary
🔥 Heat-moldable 🧴 A heat-soft plastic
thermoplastic

thermoplastic

1 6.9
Can become soft when heated and hard when cooled
  • adjective
  • /ˌθɜrməˈplæstɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : termoplástico
  • The new product is made from a thermoplastic material that can be easily reshaped when heated.
  • thermoplastic material
  • thermoplastic binder
  • thermoplastic forming

Examples

  • An example of a biodegradable, synthetic polymer is polycaprolactone, a thermoplastic polyester resin.

    Academic text (1995)

  • C&M makes the cables for an application and extrudes jackets out of polyvinyl chloride, thermoplastic elastomer, or polyurethane.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The measuring chamber is made of a thermoplastic material and is removable from the main case.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The internal measuring chamber is made of a thermoplastic compound and is replaceable as a unit.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Multi-jet meters are also made with a removable thermoplastic measuring chamber.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The linear portion uses the same thermoplastic nut material as the company's linear actuators.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Both kinds of tubing feature a thermoplastic, UV-resistant jacket that provides increased protection against galvanic and atmospheric corrosion.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Chatter-proof as well as leak-proof, the thermoplastic valves can be used for corrosive or ultra-pure liquid applications.

    Academic text (1994)

  • To get a more consistent finish, the company switched to Colorcomp acrylic thermoplastic compound, supplied by LNP Engineering Plastics of Exton.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The CASS was fabricated using thermoplastic polyurethane (TU), which has a stiffness of 42D-64D.

    Academic text (2018)

Synonyms

plastic
vsthermoplastic
38 3.6

Easy to shape when soft, for example clay

refers to materials that soften with heat and harden again repeatedly
thermoformable
vsthermoplastic
  • Specialized
7.5

You can shape it by heating, like some plastics

is able to be softened and hardened repeatedly by heat without major chemical change

Antonyms

thermosetting
  • Specialized
9.1

Become permanently hard when heated and cannot be melted again

Compounds

thermoplastic resin
  • Specialized
7.4

A man-made material that becomes soft when heated and hard when cooled so it can be reshaped many times

Surface Forms

thermoplastic positive

Morphology

thermoplastic = plastic (semi-transparent) = thermo + plastic

The adjective is transparently formed from a heat-related combining form plus 'plastic', though the technical sense is specialized.

Etymology

Thermoplastic comes from Greek parts thermo- meaning 'heat' and plastic meaning 'able to be shaped', like thermometer for heat and the word plastic for things you can shape. So if a material is thermoplastic, it becomes soft when heated and can be shaped, then hardens again when it cools.