1872 Trans. Amer. Dental Assoc. 1871 152 We have many so-called cheap materials..rubber, celluloid, pyroxyline, [etc.].

1873 Specif. Patent 3101 2 The..manufacture of pyroxyline or soluble cotton into a solid (which is herein denominated ‘celluloid’).

1878 Chester (Pa.) Daily Times 31 Aug. 1/4 He [sc. Mr. J. W. Hyatt] continued his experiments, and his brother, Mr. I. S. Hyatt, became engaged with him, and their experiments were continued until the spring of 1870, when they produced the substance now known as celluloid.

1892 W. E. Woodbury Encycl. Photogr. 110 Celluloid Films. Films of celluloid..may be coated with a gelatine sensitive emulsion, the celluloid taking the place of the glass of the photographic dry plate, the advantage being in the reduction of bulk and weight.

1901 Dental Cosmos 43 1023 Different-colored celluloids can be obtained at the art stores, but whether they are any good I cannot tell.

1935 K. Dos Passos Let. 12 Jan. in G. Murphy et al. Lett. from Lost Generation (1991) 108 Travelers are persecuted all the time by refined English smokes teasing them to buy nasty little trinkets made of celluloid or strings of shells and beads.

1951 V. E. Yarsley & Kitchen in H. M. Langton Synthetic Resins (ed. 3) ii. 116 The bulk of the..cine film used throughout the world to-day is still celluloid.

2002 A. Proulx That Old Ace in Hole (2003) ii. 18 Dust-choked carving, musty upholstery, the bitter out-gas of celluloid and Bakelite.

1920 C. W. Hoffman & C. L. Gregory Condensed Course Motion Picture Photogr. (New York Inst. Photogr.) vi. 265 Each drawing and all celluloids for that particular scene are placed on the pins in order.

1936 A. Jenkinson Amer. came my Way xvii When each picture comes to be photographed it may actually consist of five different pictures—the background and four celluloids placed one on top of the other.

1963 M. Bourke-White Portrait of Myself ii. 30 To be artistic, a picture must be blurry, and the exact degree of blurriness was one of the features over which I toiled..printing those celluloids.

1996 J. B. Twitchell Adcult USA iv. 222 The third floor has collectibles with a gallery featuring authentic animated cartoon celluloids.

1922 E. P. Oberholtzer Morals of Movie iii. 63 A director, with the most honest intentions, cannot very successfully render a play into celluloid.

1934 A. G. Macdonell How like an Angel ii. viii. 147 The British Board of Film Censors..draw the tenuous line between the decorous and libidinous in the world of celluloid.

1938 C. L. Morgan Flashing Stream 32 There are no heroes but in celluloid.

1951 Times 23 Aug. 2/5 There is not a great deal of interest..in listening to film stars in the flesh recall their triumphs in celluloid.

1979 Listener 22 Feb. 284 (heading) John Gielgud on the World of Celluloid.

2005 Hotdog June 93/1 Whatever bright light they might exude on celluloid, once they step away from the camera lens they apparently undergo some sort of personality enema.

1853 Brit. & Foreign Medico-chirurg. Rev. 11 530 Albumen is of itself capable of undergoing a celluloid development.

1881 Amer. Naturalist 15 499 Substance uniform, without celluloid structure.

1899 Lancet 12 Aug. 445/1 Methods of remotely influencing puerperal fever by..saline infusion into the celluloid tissue, and intravenous injection of antiseptics, were not of much value.

1871 Brit. Jrnl. Dental Sci. 14 364 The material is named the celluloid base, so called from the material of which it is composed.

1882 A. E. Sweet & J. A. Knox Sketches from Texas Siftings 9 A satchel containing..a clean celluloid collar, and a newspaper.

1923 Manual of Seamanship ii. 21 Celluloid films should not be allowed on board unless stowed in well-fitting iron boxes.

1954 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 167/2 Celluloid toys are highly inflammable, and it is wise not to have them in the house at all.

1977 Listener 7 Apr. 450/1 Table tennis..smashing or retrieving a small celluloid sphere over a miniature tennis net.

2005 M. Livio Equation that couldn't be Solved vi. 192 An image on celluloid film is projected onto a movie-theater screen.