pulp
Americannoun
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the soft, juicy, edible part of a fruit.
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the pith of the stem of a plant.
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a soft or fleshy part of an animal body.
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Also called dental pulp. the inner substance of the tooth, containing arteries, veins, and lymphatic and nerve tissue that communicate with their respective vascular, lymph, and nerve systems.
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any soft, moist, slightly cohering mass, as that into which linen, wood, etc., are converted in the making of paper.
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a magazine or book printed on rough, low-quality paper made of wood pulp or rags, and usually containing sensational and lurid stories, articles, etc.
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Mining.
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ore pulverized and mixed with water.
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dry crushed ore.
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verb (used with object)
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pulps,
present (3rd person singular)
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pulped,
past participle, past
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pulping
present participle
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to reduce to pulp.
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to reduce (printed papers, books, etc.) to pulp for use in making new paper.
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to remove the pulp from.
verb (used without object)
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pulps,
present (3rd person singular)
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pulped,
past participle, past
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pulping
present participle
noun
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soft or fleshy plant tissue, such as the succulent part of a fleshy fruit
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a moist mixture of cellulose fibres, as obtained from wood, from which paper is made
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a magazine or book containing trite or sensational material, and usually printed on cheap rough paper
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( as modifier )
a pulp novel
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dentistry the soft innermost part of a tooth, containing nerves and blood vessels
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any soft soggy mass or substance
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mining pulverized ore, esp when mixed with water
verb
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to reduce (a material or solid substance) to pulp or (of a material or solid substance) to be reduced to pulp
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(tr) to remove the pulp from (fruit)
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The soft tissue forming the inner structure of a tooth and containing nerves and blood vessels.
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The soft moist part of a fruit, especially a drupe or pome.
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The soft pith forming the contents of the stem of a plant.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pulpsimple
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pulpssimple
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have pulpedperfect
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has pulpedperfect
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am pulpingprogressive
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are pulpingprogressive
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is pulpingprogressive
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have been pulpingperfect progressive
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has been pulpingperfect progressive
Past
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pulpedsimple
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had pulpedperfect
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was pulpingprogressive
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were pulpingprogressive
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had been pulpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pulp
1555–65; earlier pulpe < Latin pulpa flesh, pulp of fruit
Explanation
Pulp is a soft, squishy, or slightly wet mush. The soft inside part of your tooth is pulp, and the soft flesh of a peach is also pulp. There are many kinds of pulp, including the soggy stuff that starts out as trees and ends up as paper. The process of turning wood into paper starts with pulp, the stripped wood fibers that are steamed and ground or mixed with chemicals before being bleached and dried. Magazines printed on very rough, inexpensive paper were once also referred to as pulps, leading to the name "pulp fiction" for cheap, sensational books and magazines.
Vocabulary lists containing pulp
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When the skin has collapsed into your palm like a deflated balloon, you lift the box grater and discover an almost implausible amount of ruby pulp underneath it.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
In the mango-growing heartland of Tando Allahyar, Mohammad Shakeel manages orchards that grow the golden-yellow Sindhri variety, named after the province where it flourishes and famous for its rich flavour and juicy pulp.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
They fit as naturally in cheap pulp magazines as in upmarket literary glossies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Mr. Hockney created carpets and stained-glass windows; designed sets and costumes for ballet and opera; and made work using such unusual tools as paper pulp and a fax machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
“That child,” said he, through a mouth full of pulp, “could melt a liver with his eyes.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Although similar imagery would grace the covers of salacious pulp magazines after World War I, there was a difference between Picou’s era and that of the pulps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
Lee, being Lee, believes otherwise, spurred on by his discovery of pages of purple prose that Dale hid inside his Jim Thompson crime pulps.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
She’s the one with the purple hair and chunky glasses — not the sort of cover model you’d see in the original pulps.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2022
Leiber was deeply influenced by authors who were active in the pulps in previous decades, such as H.P.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2021
The mixture of these "pulps" is run through a grating or coarse sieve on to a drying-kiln or "bed," where it is allowed to stand until stiff enough to walk on.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various
Southern California’s “Edenic” climate would be promoted on paper made from the pulped trunks of “demoniacal” trees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
After the cellulose is pulped, the water is extracted and then used in the subsequent bleaching process.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2023
She counseled readers to stick to fresh grated coconut, sweetened with a little sugar in alternating layers with pulped oranges.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
Wonder Book’s damaged items on life support are pulped to produce 100,000 pounds monthly of recycled paper.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 19, 2022
They pulped her paper and sold it at the marketplace for a considerable sum.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
DMS also results from kraft pulping, producing a ghastly, retch-inducing smell you'll have noticed if you've ever driven by a paper processing plant.
From Salon ● May 31, 2025
All are “vertically integrated” — they have harvesting and pulping capabilities as well as box-making plants and distribution networks — and most have grown, like predatory aquarium fish, by devouring their smaller peers.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2022
Healthcare providers should be “shredding, burning, pulping, or pulverizing” paper patient health records, the agency says in an FAQ.
From The Verge ● Aug. 30, 2022
Books like that, victims of their own success, are still destined for pulping and recycling into cardboard, which can at least be used to package up another second-hand book.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2018
O'Krassa; Antigua, Guatemala, is granted an important English patent on a machine for pulping coffee.
From All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
