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Fluid vs Plastic - What's the difference?

fluid | plastic |

As nouns the difference between fluid and plastic

is that fluid is fluid while plastic is plastic.

As an adjective plastic is

plastic.

fluid

English

Noun

(wikipedia fluid)
  • (physics) Any substance which can flow with relative ease, tends to assume the shape of its container, and obeys Bernoulli's principle; a liquid, gas or plasma.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03
  • , author=Frank Fish, George Lauder , title=Not Just Going with the Flow , volume=101, issue=2, page=114 , magazine= citation , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid , which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}

    Derived terms

    * amber fluid * brake fluid * fluid mechanics

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Of or relating to fluid.
  • In a state of flux; subject to change.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}
  • Moving smoothly, or giving the impression of a liquid in motion.
  • (of an asset) Convertible into cash.
  • plastic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * plastick (archaic)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A sculptor, moulder.
  • (archaic) Any solid but malleable substance.
  • A synthetic, thermoplastic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics' are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine ' plastic , too.}}
  • Any similar synthetic material, not necessarily thermoplastic.
  • (colloquial) Credit or debit cards used in place of cash to buy goods and services.
  • *
  • (slang) Fakeness, or a person who is fake or arrogant, or believes that they are better than the rest of the population.
  • *
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  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * bioplastic * plastic explosive

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Capable of being moulded; malleable, flexible, pliant.
  • * 1749 , (Henry Fielding), , Folio Society 1973, p. 103:
  • the rage betook itself at last to certain missile weapons; which, though from their plastic nature they threatened neither the loss of life or of limb, were, however, sufficiently dreadful to a well-dressed lady.
  • * 1898 , Journal of Microscopy (page 256)
  • Plastic mud, brownish tinted, rich in floatings.
  • * 2012 , Adam Zeman, ‘Only Connect’, Literary Review , issue 399:
  • while the broad pattern of connections between brain regions is similar in every healthy human brain, their details – their number, size and strength – are thought to underpin our individuality, as synapses are ‘plastic ’, shaped by experience.
  • (dated) Creative, formative.
  • * Prior
  • the plastic hand of the Creator
  • * Alexander Pope
  • See plastic Nature working to his end.
  • (biology) Capable of adapting to varying conditions; characterized by environmental adaptability.
  • Of or pertaining to the inelastic, non-brittle, deformation of a material.
  • Made of plastic.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.}}
  • Inferior or not the real thing; ersatz.
  • *
  • *
  • * {{quote-book, title=The pirate's dilemma: how youth culture is reinventing capitalism
  • , page=, author=Matt James Mason, year=2008, passage=Frustrated by a globalized music industry force-feeding them plastic pop music, hackers, remixers, and activists began to mobilize...}}
  • (slang) Fake, snobbish. Usually refers to a person.
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  • Synonyms

    * malleable, flexible, pliant * ersatz * fake

    Antonyms

    * elastic * genuine

    Derived terms

    * plastic beauty * plastician * plasticity * plasticizer * plasticine * plastic surgery * thermoplastic