polystyrene

[ pol-ee-stahy-reen, -steer-een ]

nounChemistry.

a clear plastic or stiff foam, a polymer of styrene, used chiefly as an insulator in refrigerators and air conditioners.

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Origin of polystyrene

First recorded in 1925–30; poly- + styrene

Words Nearby polystyrene

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use polystyrene in a sentence

The main room had rows of benches with weighing machines, polystyrene ice boxes, and desktop centrifuges.
Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy | Jane Qiu | February 9, 2022 | MIT Technology Review
Inside the building, encased by glass walls and covering more ground than four soccer fields, thousands upon thousands of lettuce plants floated on polystyrene mats in a hydroponic, or no-soil, growing system.
Cold plasma could transform the sustainable farms of the future | Stephen Ornes | September 8, 2021 | Science News
The most common foam used in this process is referred to as EPS, which stands for expanded polystyrene, and it’s the go-to material for lightweight construction.
Best ski helmets: Comfortable protection for hitting the slopes | PopSci Commerce Team | March 12, 2021 | Popular-Science
Huber and colleagues next plan to look for solvents to dissolve more kinds of plastic, such as the polystyrene in Styrofoam.
Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills | Maria Temming | January 27, 2021 | Science News
Excellent insulation is achieved by a thick layer of expanded polystyrene on all sides, roof, and floor.
Report of the National Library Service for the Year Ended 31 March 1958 | G. T. Alley and National Library Service (New Zealand)

British Dictionary definitions for polystyrene

polystyrene

/ (ˌpɒlɪˈstaɪriːn) /

noun

a synthetic thermoplastic material obtained by polymerizing styrene; used as a white rigid foam (expanded polystyrene) for insulating and packing and as a glasslike material in light fittings and water tanks

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for polystyrene

polystyrene

[ pŏl′ē-stī′rēn ]

A brittle synthetic polymer composed of repeated styrene units. Polystyrene is transparent and rigid because the benzene rings in each styrene unit prevent the polystyrene chains from arranging themselves into a tight crystalline structure. Polystyrene has a wide variety of uses, especially as a solid foam for insulation and packaging.

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