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

Having come face to face with its most brutal consequences, Cassie’s rose-colored glasses have been removed, stomped on, ground to a pulp and had their remains burnt to ash.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

But even then, the film feels energized by its bold mixture of pulp pleasures and weighty musings, operating with a bruising efficiency that Ali’s skilled assassin would no doubt respect.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

The company built pellet plants across the southern U.S., moving into parts of the pinery where pulp and paper mills had closed and left behind surfeits of sawdust, wood chips and cheap pulpwood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

For now, Carney's planned Canadian retaliatory duties are strategic "dollar-for-dollar" countermeasures focused on steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, electronics, pulp and paper - though the list is still being finalised.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Tiny black ants were scurrying over the shattered melons; the flies were rubbing their feet on fragments of pulp and rind.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko

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

She’s the one with the purple hair and chunky glasses — not the sort of cover model you’d see in the original pulps.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2022

Leiber was deeply influenced by authors who were active in the pulps in previous decades, such as H.P.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2021

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

The pulps you meet in warm seas are worse than sharks.

From Lister's Great Adventure by Harold Bindloss

Nonetheless, the idea that books are being pulped is causing unease.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

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

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

After the nets are cut, washed, pulped and shaped into pellets, they are ready to begin their new life — as sunglasses frames, Jenga game pieces, surfboard fins and bicycle water-bottle holders.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2022

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

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

DMS also results from kraft pulping, producing a ghastly, retch-inducing smell you'll have noticed if you've ever driven by a paper processing plant.

From Salon ● May 31, 2025

All are “vertically integrated” — they have harvesting and pulping capabilities as well as box-making plants and distribution networks — and most have grown, like predatory aquarium fish, by devouring their smaller peers.

From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2022

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

In practice, Mr Mulomba uses a simple smartphone app to scan QR codes that give him information about a particular bag of coffee, such as the weight and pulping data.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2022

Improvements have also been made in pulping and milling facilities.

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

Related Words

• paste