celluloid
Americannoun
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a tough, highly flammable substance consisting essentially of nitrocellulose and camphor: once used in the manufacture of motion-picture and x-ray film, it is now used in a limited line of other products, including guitar picks, musical instruments, and table tennis balls.
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motion-picture film.
He was an intense director and a scrupulous editor, famous for leaving piles of celluloid on the cutting-room floor.
adjective
noun
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a flammable thermoplastic material consisting of cellulose nitrate mixed with a plasticizer, usually camphor: used in sheets, rods, and tubes for making a wide range of articles
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a cellulose derivative used for coating film
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one of the transparent sheets on which the constituent drawings of an animated film are prepared
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a transparent sheet used as an overlay in artwork
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cinema film
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Etymology
Origin of celluloid
First recorded in 1870–75; cellul(ose) + -oid; formerly a trademark
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.
Recent topics in her Antiques and Collectibles series have included lectures on celluloid, vintage weddings and Art Deco.
From Los Angeles Times
Roberts isn’t just chewing the scenery; she’s devouring the celluloid and licking her chops, hungry for more.
From Salon
Controversy: The movie was considered a thinly veiled swipe at real-life newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who did not take kindly to the celluloid portrait.
From Los Angeles Times
Themes of entrapment, unrequited love and loss penetrate the screen, with Lachman conveying the narrative through a bespoke aesthetic captured on different celluloid formats.
From Los Angeles Times
But as the authors show in this 240-page book, women like Louise Brooks, Ida Lupino and Katharine Hepburn blew through the celluloid ceiling and lifted up generations of women in the movies.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
