Bakelite

[ bey-kuh-lahyt, beyk-lahyt ]

Trademark.

1. a brand name for any of a series of thermosetting plastics prepared by heating phenol or cresol with formaldehyde and ammonia under pressure: used for radio cabinets, telephone receivers, electric insulators, and molded plastic ware.

Bakelite

/ ˈbeɪkəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. any one of a class of thermosetting resins used as electric insulators and for making plastic ware, telephone receivers, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of Bakelite¹

C20: named after L. H. Baekeland (1863–1944), Belgian-born US inventor; see -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The first fully synthetic plastic, Bakelite, arrived in 1907.

From Science News

You had the first synthetic fertilizers with the Haber Bosch process, you had the first plastics, with Bakelite.

From Vox

This second dial was no more than a thin disk of hard rubber or bakelite, with a red scratch-mark on one side.

From Project Gutenberg

Yeah, some of them are on bakelite and some we just use a clip and maybe a piece of cardboard.

From Project Gutenberg

Bakelite is a substitute for hard rubber or amber, invented by the eminent chemist Dr. Baekeland.

From Project Gutenberg

Its chamber, the most striking feature, was a cube of roughly six feet, built of dull material resembling bakelite.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a name the Australians coined for synthetic resin made from phenol and formaldehyde like bakelite.

From Project Gutenberg