latex
Americannoun
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latices,
plural
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latexes
plural
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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:
Curry pressed a bewitching soulfulness through all those layers of spirit gum and latex.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
"Our balloon is still made with natural latex, but we blend it with another biodegradable polymer and we don't add any of these additives that are used in traditional balloons," she said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 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
Karex relies on materials derived from oil, including ammonia - which is used to preserve latex - and silicone-based lubricants.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
We all donned latex gloves and then, en masse, poured into the gallery.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
"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
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
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 Sidney Morgan
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 Sidney Morgan
Like the holy river of Virgil, to the souls who drink of him, Herrick offers 'securos latices.'
From A selection from the lyrical poems of Robert Herrick by Francis Turner Palgrave
The remedy obviously is to reduce the variation in latices by diluting them all to a standard rubber content as is done in sheet preparation.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Sidney Morgan
“Yellow Latex” Streaks.—This appearance of “yellow-latex” streaks in not common, and may be accounted for by incomplete mixture of two different latices.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Sidney Morgan
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