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protoplasmic

American  
[proh-tuh-plaz-mik] / ˌproʊ təˈplæz mɪk /

adjective

  1. Biology. relating to or being the protoplasm of a cell, or its nucleus and cytoplasm.

  2. consisting of or suggesting primordial, unstructured living matter not resembling any actual creature.


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.

Take Thomas Huxley, an early disciple of Darwin who became convinced in the 1860s that the seabed was blanketed by a living protoplasmic slime that he dubbed Bathybius haeckelii.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2021

Ginsberg, in his singular phrasing, praised McClure’s work as “a blob of protoplasmic energy.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2020

It broke all the rules of things natural, and introduced endless possibilities, unknown worlds that shifted shapes and light, creating myriad phantasms of protoplasmic gobbleygook.

From New York Times • Nov. 3, 2016

But biology moved on from protoplasmic theory, and slime itself began to seem absurd.

From Slate • Jul. 18, 2016

The little protoplasmic animal draws in its protrusions, only to send them out again on a later occasion.

From A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Freud, Sigmund