Adjacent Words

Plasma definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLAS'MA, n. A silicious mineral of a color between grass green and leek green, occurring in angular pieces in beds, associated with common chalcedony, and among the ruins of Rome.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the colorless watery fluid of the blood and lymph that contains no cells, but in which the blood cells (erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes) are suspended [syn: plasma, plasm, blood plasma]
2: a green slightly translucent variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone
3: (physical chemistry) a fourth state of matter distinct from solid or liquid or gas and present in stars and fusion reactors; a gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their electrons, leaving a highly electrified collection of nuclei and free electrons; "particles in space exist in the form of a plasma"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: German, from Late Latin, something molded, from Greek, from plassein to mold — more at plaster Date: 1772 1. a green faintly translucent quartz 2. [New Latin, from Late Latin] a. the fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk as distinguished from suspended material; especially blood plasma b. the juice that can be expressed from muscle 3. protoplasm 4. a collection of charged particles (as in the atmospheres of stars or in a metal) containing about equal numbers of positive ions and electrons and exhibiting some properties of a gas but differing from a gas in being a good conductor of electricity and in being affected by a magnetic field 5. a display (as a television screen) consisting of discrete cells of plasma sandwiched between two layers of glass and electrodes such that each cell emits light when it receives an electric current • plasmatic adjective

Britannica Concise

Liquid part of blood (incl. dissolved chemicals but not the cells and platelets). This straw-colored fluid serves as the blood's transport medium, helps maintain blood pressure, distributes body heat, and maintains the pH balance in the bloodstream and body. More than 90% consists of water, about 7% proteins, and the rest other substances, incl. waste products of metabolism. Important plasma proteins include albumin, coagulation factors, and globulins, incl. gamma globulin and a hormone that stimulates erythrocyte formation. Serum is the liquid part of the blood that remains after clotting. Electrically conducting medium in which there are roughly equal numbers of positively and negatively charged particles, produced when the atoms in a gas become ionized (see ionization). Plasma is sometimes called the fourth state of matter (the first three being solid, liquid, and gas). A plasma is unique in the way it interacts with itself, with electric and magnetic fields, and with its environment. It can be thought of as a collection of ions, electrons, neutral atoms and molecules, and photons in which some atoms are being ionized at the same time as electrons are recombining with other ions to form neutral particles, while photons are continuously being produced and absorbed. It is estimated that more than 99% of the matter in the universe exists in the plasma state. Liquid part of blood (incl. dissolved chemicals but not the cells and platelets). This straw-colored fluid serves as the blood's transport medium, helps maintain blood pressure, distributes body heat, and maintains the pH balance in the bloodstream and body. More than 90% consists of water, about 7% proteins, and the rest other substances, incl. waste products of metabolism. Important plasma proteins include albumin, coagulation factors, and globulins, incl. gamma globulin and a hormone that stimulates erythrocyte formation. Serum is the liquid part of the blood that remains after clotting. Electrically conducting medium in which there are roughly equal numbers of positively and negatively charged particles, produced when the atoms in a gas become ionized (see ionization). Plasma is sometimes called the fourth state of matter (the first three being solid, liquid, and gas). A plasma is unique in the way it interacts with itself, with electric and magnetic fields, and with its environment. It can be thought of as a collection of ions, electrons, neutral atoms and molecules, and photons in which some atoms are being ionized at the same time as electrons are recombining with other ions to form neutral particles, while photons are continuously being produced and absorbed. It is estimated that more than 99% of the matter in the universe exists in the plasma state.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (also plasm) 1 the colourless fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk, in which corpuscles or fat-globules are suspended. 2 = PROTOPLASM. 3 a gas of positive ions and free electrons with an approximately equal positive and negative charge. 4 a green variety of quartz used in mosaic and for other decorative purposes. Derivatives: plasmatic adj. plasmic adj. Etymology: LL, = mould f. Gk plasma -atos f. plasso to shape

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plasma Plas"ma, n. [See Plasm.] 1. (Min.) A variety of quartz, of a color between grass green and leek green, which is found associated with common chalcedony. It was much esteemed by the ancients for making engraved ornaments. 2. (Biol.) The viscous material of an animal or vegetable cell, out of which the various tissues are formed by a process of differentiation; protoplasm. 3. Unorganized material; elementary matter. 4. (Med.) A mixture of starch and glycerin, used as a substitute for ointments. --U. S. Disp.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Plasma is the clear liquid part of blood which contains the blood cells.

Moby Thesaurus

Rh factor, Rh-negative, Rh-positive, Rh-type, Rhesus factor, antibody, antigen, arterial blood, blood, blood bank, blood cell, blood count, blood donor, blood donor center, blood group, blood grouping, blood picture, blood platelet, blood pressure, blood serum, blood substitute, bloodmobile, bloodstream, circulation, clinical dextran, dextran, erythrocyte, globulin, gore, grume, hematics, hematologist, hematology, hematoscope, hematoscopy, hemocyte, hemoglobin, hemometer, humor, ichor, isoantibody, leukocyte, lifeblood, neutrophil, opsonin, phagocyte, plasma substitute, red corpuscle, serum, type O, venous blood, white corpuscle