latex
Americannoun
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a milky liquid in certain plants, as milkweeds, euphorbias, poppies, or the plants yielding India rubber, that coagulates on exposure to air.
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Chemistry. any emulsion in water of finely divided particles of synthetic rubber or plastic.
noun
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a whitish milky fluid containing protein, starch, alkaloids, etc, that is produced by many plants. Latex from the rubber tree is used in the manufacture of rubber
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a suspension of synthetic rubber or plastic in water, used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber products, etc
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The colorless or milky sap of certain trees and plants, such as the milkweed and the rubber tree, that hardens when exposed to the air. Latex usually contains gum resins, waxes, and oils, and sometimes toxic substances.
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A manufactured emulsion of synthetic rubber or plastic droplets in water that resembles the latex of plants. It is used in paints, adhesives, and synthetic rubber products.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of latex
1655–65; < New Latin, special use of Latin latex water, juice, liquid
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:
To create the biomaterial, the scientists manually collected latex from freshly harvested jackfruit and carefully purified it.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
He took the same relaxed view about his latex puppet in the satirical series, Spitting Image, which mocked his slight speech impediment and sprayed saliva when it spoke.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
When forensic experts climbed on board, wearing white hazmat suits and blue latex gloves, they found that the evidence inside was almost entirely unspoiled, according to German investigators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Costs have been affected "across the board", including the price of condom material nitrile latex and natural rubber.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
We all donned latex gloves and then, en masse, poured into the gallery.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Short-wavelength radiation is scattered when the particle size becomes close to the radiation wavelength, making latexes with particle sizes larger than the incoming wavelengths difficult to produce.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2023
"The system could potentially be used in all areas where latexes are used, such as films, coatings, supports for diagnostics, and more," Lacôte says.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2023
As a result, for the first time, the team were able to use light to produce polystyrene latexes with particle sizes greater than one micrometer and with highly uniform diameters.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2023
Owing probably to variations in the composition of the latices, or to the extent of infection by organisms, coagulation may one day be complete and on other days less satisfactory.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney
They are: A. The Hot-Water Treatment.—This method has been in constant use on estates which have old trees giving rich latices.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney
But it may be believed that under ordinary weather conditions most latices are infected before reaching the factory.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney
Previously the only known method of obtaining uniformity in colour and appearance was that by which latices from all fields were mixed together in bulk.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney
It will be obvious that, given two equal quantities of different latices, different amounts of an anti-coagulant may be required to produce the same effect.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney
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.
