plasticity

«plasticity» in Mova's school dictionary: Being able to be shaped or moulded easily and keep the… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (plasticity, uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Being able to be shaped or moulded easily and keep the new shape, like clay. tree →

2) (science) The ability of the brain or a living thing to change and adapt, e.g. when learning something new. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons on materials, plasticity is a property of clay, putty and some metals. In lessons about the brain and learning, «brain plasticity» (neuroplasticity) means the brain makes new connections when we practise, which is why practice helps.

examples

• Clay has great plasticity, so we can make pots from it. tree →
• Brain plasticity means you can get better with practice. tree →
• The plasticity of warm wax makes it easy to model. tree →
• Children's brains have a lot of plasticity. tree →
• Metals like gold have plasticity and can be hammered thin. tree →
• The plasticity of the dough let us shape it into animals. tree →

note

Uncountable. It is not about plastic material; plastic got its name because it can be shaped, from Greek «plastikos», able to be moulded. Opposite properties: brittleness, rigidity, elasticity (springs back to its shape).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «plasticity» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.