pulp

American  

[puhlp] / pʌlp /

noun

1. the soft, juicy, edible part of a fruit.

2. the pith of the stem of a plant.

3. a soft or fleshy part of an animal body.

4. Also called dental pulp.  the inner substance of the tooth, containing arteries, veins, and lymphatic and nerve tissue that communicate with their respective vascular, lymph, and nerve systems.

5. any soft, moist, slightly cohering mass, as that into which linen, wood, etc., are converted in the making of paper.

6. a magazine or book printed on rough, low-quality paper made of wood pulp or rags, and usually containing sensational and lurid stories, articles, etc.

7. Mining.

   1. ore pulverized and mixed with water.

   2. dry crushed ore.

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verb (used with object)

• pulps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pulped,
  past participle,  past
• pulping
  present participle

1. to reduce to pulp.

2. to reduce (printed papers, books, etc.) to pulp for use in making new paper.

3. to remove the pulp from.

verb (used without object)

• pulps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pulped,
  past participle,  past
• pulping
  present participle

1. to become reduced to pulp.

pulp British  

/ pʌlp /

noun

1. soft or fleshy plant tissue, such as the succulent part of a fleshy fruit

2. a moist mixture of cellulose fibres, as obtained from wood, from which paper is made

3. 1. a magazine or book containing trite or sensational material, and usually printed on cheap rough paper

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pulp novel

4. dentistry the soft innermost part of a tooth, containing nerves and blood vessels

5. any soft soggy mass or substance

6. mining pulverized ore, esp when mixed with water

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verb

1. to reduce (a material or solid substance) to pulp or (of a material or solid substance) to be reduced to pulp

2. (tr) to remove the pulp from (fruit)

pulp Scientific  

/ pŭlp /

1. The soft tissue forming the inner structure of a tooth and containing nerves and blood vessels.

2. The soft moist part of a fruit, especially a drupe or pome.

3. The soft pith forming the contents of the stem of a plant.

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pulp Cultural  

1. The soft tissue, containing blood vessels and nerves, that makes up the interior of the tooth.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pulper
  noun
• depulp
  verb (used with object)
• pulpless
  adjective
• pulplike
  adjective
• unpulped
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• pulping
  present
• pulped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pulp
  simple
• pulps
  simple
• have pulped
  perfect
• has pulped
  perfect
• am pulping
  progressive
• are pulping
  progressive
• is pulping
  progressive
• have been pulping
  perfect progressive
• has been pulping
  perfect progressive

Past

• pulped
  simple
• had pulped
  perfect
• was pulping
  progressive
• were pulping
  progressive
• had been pulping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pulp
  simple
• will have pulped
  perfect
• will be pulping
  progressive
• will have been pulping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pulp

1555–65; earlier pulpe < Latin pulpa flesh, pulp of fruit

Explanation

Pulp is a soft, squishy, or slightly wet mush. The soft inside part of your tooth is pulp, and the soft flesh of a peach is also pulp. There are many kinds of pulp, including the soggy stuff that starts out as trees and ends up as paper. The process of turning wood into paper starts with pulp, the stripped wood fibers that are steamed and ground or mixed with chemicals before being bleached and dried. Magazines printed on very rough, inexpensive paper were once also referred to as pulps, leading to the name "pulp fiction" for cheap, sensational books and magazines.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pulp pulps pulped pulping

The tariffs will target US steel and dairy, while also covering sectors like agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, as well as electronics.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

The researchers don’t yet know exactly what it will cost to cultivate, harvest, transport and process hesperaloe into pulp at scale, but say early signs are that the cost could compare favorably with wood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

When the skin has collapsed into your palm like a deflated balloon, you lift the box grater and discover an almost implausible amount of ruby pulp underneath it.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

In the mango-growing heartland of Tando Allahyar, Mohammad Shakeel manages orchards that grow the golden-yellow Sindhri variety, named after the province where it flourishes and famous for its rich flavour and juicy pulp.

From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026

He poured cool water from his thermos over the hot pulp of his palms and set to work picking out shreds of tire rubber.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

Following World War I, fantastic “art” was largely identified with Surrealism, while popular fantasy was mostly quartered within the new mass-market ghettos of pulps, comics, film marketing and paperback books.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

Maggie Gourlay pulps old screen prints and forms the residues into target-like rounds whose faintly hued, single-color circles she calls “growth rings.”

From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2023

Specifically, in pulps like “Black Mask,” where he honed and refined his detective character Philip Marlowe in stories that boiled hard and talked tough.

From New York Times ● May 15, 2020

Comic books and graphic novels have gone from the pulps, the penny press and disposable popular culture to now being, in their best examples, considered as literature.

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2019

Brown a golden color two medium sized chopped onions in hot butter, add the chilli pulps with half a cup of chicken broth, cover pan and cook slowly fifteen minutes.

From Civic League Cook Book by

Southern California’s “Edenic” climate would be promoted on paper made from the pulped trunks of “demoniacal” trees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025

The Turner Prize-nominated artist David Shrigley has pulped 6,000 copies of Dan Brown's best-seller The Da Vinci Code and republished them as George Orwell's novel 1984.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2023

I also thought of Larry Kramer, whose plays were pleas: agitprop and artistry pulped into something new.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2023

She counseled readers to stick to fresh grated coconut, sweetened with a little sugar in alternating layers with pulped oranges.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2023

They’d pulped a coconut, which they were using for shaving cream.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

We created a durable bio-based foam using lignin, a byproduct of the paper pulping industry, and a vegetable oil-based curing agent that introduces flexibility and toughness to the final material.

From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2023

Healthcare providers should be “shredding, burning, pulping, or pulverizing” paper patient health records, the agency says in an FAQ.

From The Verge ● Aug. 30, 2022

When pro-democracy protesters stormed the secret police precincts in 1989 and 1990, they found officers at work inside, shredding, pulping and tearing documents by hand.

From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2021

Books like that, victims of their own success, are still destined for pulping and recycling into cardboard, which can at least be used to package up another second-hand book.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2018

Walker, J. Handbook of coffee pulpers and pulping.

From All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

Related Words

• paste