protoplasm
Americannoun
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Biology. (no longer in technical use) the colloidal and liquid substance of which cells are formed, excluding horny, chitinous, and other structural material; the cytoplasm and nucleus.
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Obsolete. the living matter of organisms regarded as the physical basis of life, having the ability to sense and conduct stimuli.
noun
Other Word Forms
- interprotoplasmic adjective
- protoplasmal adjective
- protoplasmatic adjective
- protoplasmic adjective
Etymology
Origin of protoplasm
From the New Latin word prōtoplasma, dating back to 1840–50. See proto-, -plasm
Compare meaning
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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.
"People have been so busy relating to how I look, it's a miracle I didn't become a self-conscious blob of protoplasm. It's not easy being Robert Redford," he once told New York magazine.
From BBC
In the mid-1800s others, such as Darwin's supporter Thomas Henry Huxley, began to suspect that there was a generic form of “living matter”—often called protoplasm—from which the most primitive life-forms were fashioned.
From Scientific American
“We just got a good lesson in how to be effective without moving protoplasm around,” he said.
From New York Times
Professor Huxley has not proved, and it is impossible for him to prove, that these protoplasms may not have essential points of difference.
From Scientific American
Even assuming the perspective of human egotism, think how many issues of profound importance to humanity lie within the protoplasm of the simplest microbe!
From Scientific American
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.
