Adjacent Words

caoutchouc definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an elastic material obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus) that can be vulcanized and finished into a variety of products [syn: rubber, natural rubber, India rubber, gum elastic, caoutchouc]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French, from obsolete Spanish cauchuc (now caucho), probably from a language of Amazonian Peru or Ecuador Date: 1775 rubber I,2a

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. raw rubber. Etymology: F f. Carib cahuchu

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Caoutchouc Caout"chouc, n. [F. caoutchouc, from the South American name.] A tenacious, elastic, gummy substance obtained from the milky sap of several plants of tropical South America (esp. the euphorbiaceous tree Siphonia elastica or Hevea caoutchouc), Asia, and Africa. Being impermeable to liquids and gases, and not readly affected by exposure to air, acids, and alkalies, it is used, especially when vulcanized, for many purposes in the arts and in manufactures. Also called India rubber (because it was first brought from India, and was formerly used chiefly for erasing pencil marks) and gum elastic. See Vulcanization. Mineral caoutchouc. See under Mineral.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. India-rubber, gum-elastic.