polyvinyl alcohol

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a colorless, water-soluble, thermoplastic resin, derived by the hydrolysis of polyvinyl acetate: used chiefly as an adhesive and as a sizing agent in the manufacture of textiles, paper, and plastics.

Word History and Origins

Origin of polyvinyl alcohol¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Re-creating these compounds is no easy task, but we can create our own synthetic versions in a lab, starting with polyvinyl alcohol, or PVA.

From Popular-Science