elastic
- capable of returning to its original length, shape, etc., after being stretched, deformed, compressed, or expanded: an elastic waistband; elastic fiber.
- spontaneously expansive, as gases.
- flexible; accommodating; adaptable; tolerant: elastic rules and regulations.
- springing back or rebounding; springy: He walks with an elastic step.
- readily recovering from depression or exhaustion; buoyant: an elastic temperament.
- Economics. relatively responsive to change, as to a proportionate increase in demand as the result of a decrease in price.Compare inelastic(def 2).
- Physics. of, relating to, or noting a body having the property of elasticity.
- webbing, or material in the form of a band, made elastic, as with strips of rubber.
- something made from this material, as a garter.
- rubber band.
Origin of elastic
Synonyms for elastic
Antonyms for elastic
Examples from the Web for elastically
Contemporary Examples of elastically
The elastically talented Amy Poehler will likely surprise us one day by winning serious acclaim.
Historical Examples of elastically
It might have been these, elastically yielding, that had saved the lifeboat from total ruin.
West Of The SunEdgar Pangborn
It looks as if the whole face were elastically drawn toward its center.
The PhotoplayHugo Mnsterberg
Their bodies are elastically supple, with free sway from the hips and a mercurial poise upon the ankle.
New Italian sketchesJohn Addington Symonds
Since brick does not elastically vibrate to such infinitesimal impulses as electric waves, ether must.
Among the ForcesHenry White Warren
With all these movements is connected the power of elastically contracting and relaxing the muscles.
How to SingLilli Lehmann
elastic
- (of a body or material) capable of returning to its original shape after compression, expansion, stretching, or other deformation
- capable of adapting to changean elastic schedule
- quick to recover from fatigue, dejection, etc; buoyant
- springy or resilientan elastic walk
- (of gases) capable of expanding spontaneously
- physics (of collisions) involving no overall change in translational kinetic energy
- made of elastic
- tape, cord, or fabric containing interwoven strands of flexible rubber or similar substance allowing it to stretch and return to its original shape
- mainly US and Canadian something made of elastic, such as a rubber band or a garter
Word Origin for elastic
Word Origin and History for elastically
elastic
1650s, coined in French (1650s) as a scientific term to describe gases, from Modern Latin elasticus, from Greek elastos "ductile, flexible," related to elaunein "to strike, beat out," of uncertain origin. Applied to solids from 1670s. Figurative use by 1859. The noun, "cord or string woven with rubber," is 1847, American English.
elastic
(ĭ-lăs′tĭk)- Having the property of returning to the original shape after being distorted.