gum elastic
- noun
- /ɡʌm ɪˈlæstɪk/
- Specialized
:
goma elástica
- The children played with a bouncy ball made of gum elastic during recess.
Examples
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In the rainforest, we collected gum elastic from trees to make natural rubber products.
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Manufacturers are increasingly using gum elastic to create flexible and durable rubber goods.
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Two attempts at intubation using a gum elastic bougie failed because the bougie could not pass into the trachea.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
230
1.0
A strong elastic material from plant sap or made in factories used for things like tires
1
2.9
An elastic material made from the sticky sap of certain trees used for many products
1
5.0
A natural material from tree sap that stretches and is used to make tires and erasers
A natural rubber made from sap of the Brazilian rubber tree used to make tires
A natural elastic material made from rubber-tree sap used to make tires and waterproof clothes
Surface Forms
Morphology
The definition is directly derivable from combining 'gum' (a sticky, resinous secretion/latex) with 'elastic' (a material that springs back): a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it is an elastic material made from gum/latex. Although 'gum' has common polysemy (e.g. chewing gum), the material-source reading is straightforward and this compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, so the expression is transparent.
Etymology
Gum elastic gets its name from the sticky gum of tree sap and its elastic or 'stretchy' feel when pulled. So it came to mean the natural rubber material used for flexible items like tubing, waterproof clothes, and other rubber products.