elasticadj.n.

/ɪˈlastɪk/

Etymology: < modern Latin elasticus, < Greek ἐλαστικός that drives, propulsive, impulsive, < ἐλα- stem of ἐλαύνειν to drive. The Latin word, together with the related elater n.¹, occurs, apparently as a novelty, in Pecquet's Dissertatio Anatomica (1651), where elastica virtus denotes the ‘impulsive force’ of the atmosphere, which the Torricellian experiment (1643) had shown to be the cause of the phenomena previously ascribed to ‘Nature's horror of a vacuum’.

A. adj.

†1. Pertaining to or causing the ‘spontaneous’ expansion of air or gases; in phrase elastic force (virtue, faculty, power, etc.). Now merged in sense A. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > mechanics > fluid mechanics > [adjective] > utilizing pneumatics > relating to or causing expansion of gases

elastic1653

elastical1660

elaterical1674

1653 tr. J. Pecquet New Anat. Exper. 122 The Spontaneous dilatation [of the air] enerveth the power of the Elastick (impulsive) faculty [L. 1651 virtutis Elasticæ]..But the other, which is extraneous to the Air, viz., from the accession of heat, will make it firm.

1656 H. More Antidote Atheism (1712) ii. ii. 45 There is an Elastick power in the Air.

1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 129 The air of the convex part must of necessity have a strong pressure or elastick force to return into the concave thereof.

†2. Of air or gas: Possessing the property of spontaneous expansion. Now merged in sense A. 3.The ultimate particles of air were by some supposed to act like a coiled spring; hence the word came to express the characteristic property of a spring, as in the early instances of sense A. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > gaseous phase > [adjective] > properties

elastical1660

elastic1681

self-repellent1803

self-repelling1803

self-repulsive1832

perfect1849

incoercible1861

1681 Table of Hard Words in S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Remaining Med. Wks. Elastick, that goeth off with a force like gunpowder, or spreads forcibly forth with a jerk.

1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 279 Wind is elastick and rarify'd [? air] pent up in some Vessel of the Body.

a. Of material substances, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous: That spontaneously resumes (after a longer or shorter interval) its normal bulk or shape after having been contracted, dilated, or distorted by external force. (In this sense elastical adj. appears to be somewhat older.) Also of motions, forces, etc.: Characteristic of an elastic body. Also elastic collision (German elastisch used in this sense, e.g. by Franck and Hertz 1913, in Verh. d. Deut. Physik. Ges. XV), a collision between two particles in which the total kinetic energy is conserved; elastic constant, a constant that expresses the reaction of a material to stress; elastic fluids: still often used specifically for gases (cf. A. 2), though liquids are now known to be perfectly elastic according to the modern definition; elastic hysteresis = hysteresis n.; elastic limit: (see quot. 1864); elastic modulus = modulus of elasticity n.; elastic scattering, the scattering of particles without loss of kinetic energy; elastic strain, a temporary deformation of a material under strain; elastic wave, a wave consisting of elastic deformations propagated through a medium. ‘Elasticity of shape’ belongs to solids only; ‘elasticity of bulk’ to bodies of all kinds. In the case of gases the ‘normal bulk’ to which they tend is indefinitely great. The strict modern use as applied to solids dates from James Bernouilli's memoir of 1694; respecting the earlier instances see note to sense A. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective] > elastic

softc1330

elastical1660

springy1660

elastic1674

resilient1674

resiliating1709

the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > action of dispersing particles > [noun] > elastic scattering

resonance scattering1922

Rutherford scattering1922

elastic scattering1933

potential scattering1937

resonant scattering1948

1674 W. Petty Disc. before Royal Soc. 3 An Appendix, to what is said of Springs and other Elastique bodies.

1693 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. vii. 12 The Air is now certainly known to consist of elastick or springy Particles.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 162 Every body that strikes against another produces a sound..simple, and but one in bodies which are not elastic.

1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. v. 117 At once he bent Against Tydides his elastic bow.

1794 J. G. Schmeisser Syst. Mineral. I. 290 Elastic Bitumen..is of a brown color, has no lustre, and is very elastic.

1796 S. Vince Princ. Hydrostat. Def. 2 An elastic fluid is one, whose dimensions are diminished by increasing the pressure.

1848 R. Mallet in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 97 The determination of the time of transit of the elastic wave through the earth's crust.

1850 R. W. Emerson Montaigne in Representative Men iv. 160 We want some coat woven of elastic steel.

1864 Q. Jrnl. Sc. 1 63 The elastic limit, that is the extent to which their particles may be relatively displaced without fracture or other permanent alteration.

1870 J. D. Everett Deschanel's Elem. Treat. Nat. Philos. I. iii. 22 The name of elastic fluids is often given to gases.

1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. I. i. 11 The atoms recoil, in virtue of the elastic force.

1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) xi. 197 The elastic boughs sprang back with dangerous force.

1886 J. Milne Earthquakes iii. 44 An earthquake consists of elastic waves of compression and distortion.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Elastic hysteresis, an effect, analogous to magnetic hysteresis in iron, observed in the relation of strain to stress when the stress to which an elastic body is subjected is alternately increased and diminished.

1913 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 88 299 We shall suppose for the sake of generality that the collision of ion and molecule is not perfectly elastic, an assumption which allows roughly for a possible loss of energy on collision.

1925 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 111 589 Ultimately the whole question of the tensile strength of metals and of the elastic limit resolves itself into an investigation of variation with temperature.

1927 H. N. Russell et al. Astron. II. xvii. 551 After colliding with the far more massive atom the electron may be found moving at the same speed as before; such a collision is called elastic.

1930 Engineering 14 Feb. 231/3 This must not be so high as to cause heating of the piece by elastic hysteresis.

1930 A. W. Judge Engineering Materials III. i. 12 It will be seen, then, that the elastic strains occurring in engineering work are very small indeed.

1930 E. Rutherford et al. Radiations from Radioactive Substances v. 134 The difficulties..may be illustrated by the distinction made to-day between an ‘elastic’, and ‘non-elastic’ collision of an electron with an atom.

1931 Discovery Apr. 123/1 Elastic waves travel through different rocks at different velocities.

1933 Physical Rev. 43 112 (heading) Elastic scattering of electrons by mercury atoms.

1936 P. F. Foster Mech. Testing of Metals & Alloys i. 2 If, after the application and removal of the load, the strain disappears completely, the material is said to be perfectly elastic and the strain is then referred to as elastic strain.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 284/1 Elastic modulus.

1941 in M. Gowing Brit. & Atomic Energy 1939–45 (1964) App. II. 403 The diffraction effect (elastic scattering) is confined mainly to small angles.

1948 Sci. News 7 14 For rubber, firmness therefore depends on the nearly constant ratio of pressure to amount of deformation, which is called an ‘elastic modulus’.

1950 Engineering CLXX. 97/2 The links..will break before the elastic limit of..the guide apparatus is reached.

1955 H. B. G. Casimir in W. Pauli Niels Bohr & Devel. Physics 122 The elastic constants in the superconducting state are not appreciably different from those in the normal state.

1955 Gloss. Terms Radiol. (B.S.I.) 14 Elastic scattering, in which the scattered radiation has the same quantum energy as the incident radiation.

1958 W. K. Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics iv. 30 When the neutrons are deflected the collisions are called elastic, since the kinetic energy is conserved and the collisions can be treated by the normal dynamics of billiard ball collisions.

1966 New Scientist 5 May 296/3 An electromagnetic interaction between the electron and the nucleus can cause the electron to veer off in its path at some angle while the interacting nucleus recoils in a different direction. This phenomenon is called ‘elastic scattering’.

b. transferred. Of motion: Resembling that of an elastic body; springy.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > bodily movement > [adjective] > qualities of bodily movement > elastic

supple1599

springing1655

springy1749

buoyant1835

fawn-like1838

elastic1848

1848 Baroness Bunsen in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) II. iii. 116 Her light, elastic, continually lively motions.

c. figurative. Of feelings, temperaments, etc., hence, also, of persons: Not permanently or easily depressed; buoyant.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pleasure > cheerfulness > [adjective] > cheerfully optimistic

sanguine1509

elastical1660

buoyanta1748

elastic1786

resilient1830

sunshine-showery1830

happy-go-lucky1835

toujours gai1899

bouncy1921

upbeat1947

blue skies2005

1786 H. More Florio 50 Th' elastic spirits nimbly bound.

1815 J. Scott Visit to Paris i. 4 An elastic spirit, anxious to overleap distance.

1828 T. Carlyle Goethe's Helena in Foreign Rev. 1 463 This elastic little urchin may have some relationship to the 'Son of Maia'.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 429 Those elastic spirits..had borne up against defeat.

1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh III. 116 The elastic temperament of Mr. Skirlaugh.

a. (Partly attributive use of the noun.) In popular language, esp.: That can be stretched without permanent alteration of size or shape. Applied to fabrics, or articles made of them, containing threads or thin strips of rubber usually covered by a woven material. †elastic gum [= French gomme élastique] : india-rubber; elastic web: cloth woven with india-rubber threads so as to stretch; elastic boots: boots with elastic web at the sides. So elastic sides, of elastic boots; also attributive, as elastic side boots, and elliptical = such boots; elastic-sided adj. Also elastic band (band n.² 2); elastic stocking, a remedial stocking made partly of rubber.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective] > elastic > stretchable

stretchable1398

extensible1611

extensive1612

tensible1626

tensile1626

reaching1651

distendible1673

extendible1693

distractile1709

distensile1739

extensile1744

elastic1781

distensible1828

distensive1836

stretchy1854

stretching1897

two-way stretch1932

1781 T. Cavallo in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 71 519 Common vitriolic ether..could not affect elastic gum.

1793 Schmeisser in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 83 165 I have..fixed the tube into the stopper by means of a thin piece of elastic gum.

1803 W. Henry in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 93 31 A transfer bottle of elastic gum.

c1835 in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) iii. 27 Madame L. begs also to recommend her highly approved elastic Parisian corsets.

1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 15 Elastic waistcoats, bosom friends, and warm stockings, poured in upon the curate.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 424 Elastic bands. The manufacture of braces and garters, with threads of caoutchouc..seems to have originated..in Vienna.

1846 A. Bain Brit. Patent 11,480 5 In order to support..the paper I employ elastic bands of india rubber.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 525/1 Elastic side, dress, and other boots.

1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 579/2 Corset..made to fasten in the front with patent spring clasp, and gauze elastic sides... Boots and shoes, with elastic sides, made by sewing pieces of India-rubber to the upper leather and then to the sole.

1855 J. H. Newman Let. in M. Trevor Newman: Light in Winter (1962) 63 My accident of the autumn not being well I had just been obliged to put on my elastic stocking again.

1856 R. Gardiner Handbk. of Foot 48 The introduction of elastic~web for the sides of boots, is a very important improvement.

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Elastic-bands, belts, braces, gaiters, &c., made with threads of caoutchouc, either naked or covered.

1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany i. 5 A pair of moderately strong French elastic boots.

a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 776/2 Elastic-fabric loom, one having mechanical devices for stretching the rubber threads or shirrs, and holding them at a positive tension while the fabric is woven.

1880 Encycl. Brit. XII. 842/1 The threads used in making elastic webbing are usually cut from spread sheets.

1899 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Some Experiences Irish R.M. 295 Narrow feet in elastic-sided cloth boots.

1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 30 A man with a soft felt hat and elastic-sided boots.

1905 M. Barnes-Grundy Vacillations Hazel 292 An elastic-sided-booted woman.

1922 V. Woolf Jacob's Room vii. 136 One pair of elastic stockings for Mrs. Page, widow, aged sixty-three.

1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song ii. vi. 157 He's made millions..out of the elastic band—has some patent for making them last only just long enough.

1937 F. Stark Diary 25 Nov. in Winter in Arabia (1940) 29 The cook, who, in elastic-sided boots, announces dinner.

1970 Focus June 10/2 Elastic waistband means ordinary elastic is sewn on at the waist.

b. figurative. Of immaterial things: That can be ‘stretched’ or expanded to suit circumstances; flexible, accommodating.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > [adjective] > able to be > specifically of something immaterial

elastic1859

1859 J. Bright in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 155 805 The revenue of India is not elastic.

1864 Ld. Pollock in Morning Star 12 Jan. A lax or elastic interpretation of a criminal statute.

1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking viii. 164 Currency laws..will never make capital so elastic..any more than, etc.

1874 J. Morley On Compromise 117 A certain elastic relativity of dogma.

1884 R. W. Church Bacon ix. 212 The new ideas..would want a much more elastic..instrument than Latin.

1891 N.E.D. at Elastic Mod. He seems to have a very elastic conscience.

c. Anatomy. elastic tissue: one of the varieties of areolar or connective tissue. elastic fibre, a fibre of a kind present in certain types of connective tissue and cartilage, characterized by being branched, easily stretched, and giving tissue a yellow colour when present in bulk.

ΚΠ

1849 A. H. Hassall Microsc. Anat. Human Body I. xvii. 331 Acetic acid applied to a portion of mixed cellular tissue, at once allows the elastic fibres to be clearly seen.

1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. i. 41 Elastic Tissue is composed of homogeneous fibres.

1876 J. Quain Elem. Anat. (ed. 8) ii. 67 Yellow or Elastic Tissue.

1968 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxix. 10 The lung's elastic fibres form a system of branching springs.

†5. In etymological sense: Propulsive. Obsolete (nonce use).

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > propulsive

remigial1592

propellant1644

propulsive1648

propulsory1656

protrusive1676

projectile1696

projective1697

propelling1710

elastic1712

propulsatory1826

1712 R. Blackmore Creation iv. 166 By what Elastic Engines did she reer The starry Roof, and roll the Orbs in Air?

B. n.

Elastic cord or string, usually woven with india-rubber.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > elastic

elastica1847

shirr1858

laccy1906

lacky band1950

a1847 in H. Howe Hist. Coll. Ohio (1847) 48 With the elastics supplied by the ladies, for a halter..the young dog passed from the shores of time.

1863 E. B. Drifting Clouds 140 Adèle had been enquiring for a piece of elastic for her hat.

1886 W. Hooper Sketches Acad. Life 13 The thorough-going prim man will always place a circle of elastic round his hair previous to putting on his college cap.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	elastic
释义	elasticadj.n. /ɪˈlastɪk/ Etymology: < modern Latin elasticus, < Greek ἐλαστικός that drives, propulsive, impulsive, < ἐλα- stem of ἐλαύνειν to drive. The Latin word, together with the related elater n.¹, occurs, apparently as a novelty, in Pecquet's Dissertatio Anatomica (1651), where elastica virtus denotes the ‘impulsive force’ of the atmosphere, which the Torricellian experiment (1643) had shown to be the cause of the phenomena previously ascribed to ‘Nature's horror of a vacuum’. A. adj. †1. Pertaining to or causing the ‘spontaneous’ expansion of air or gases; in phrase elastic force (virtue, faculty, power, etc.). Now merged in sense A. 3. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > mechanics > fluid mechanics > [adjective] > utilizing pneumatics > relating to or causing expansion of gases elastic1653 elastical1660 elaterical1674 1653 tr. J. Pecquet New Anat. Exper. 122 The Spontaneous dilatation [of the air] enerveth the power of the Elastick (impulsive) faculty [L. 1651 virtutis Elasticæ]..But the other, which is extraneous to the Air, viz., from the accession of heat, will make it firm. 1656 H. More Antidote Atheism (1712) ii. ii. 45 There is an Elastick power in the Air. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 129 The air of the convex part must of necessity have a strong pressure or elastick force to return into the concave thereof. †2. Of air or gas: Possessing the property of spontaneous expansion. Now merged in sense A. 3.The ultimate particles of air were by some supposed to act like a coiled spring; hence the word came to express the characteristic property of a spring, as in the early instances of sense A. 3. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > gaseous phase > [adjective] > properties elastical1660 elastic1681 self-repellent1803 self-repelling1803 self-repulsive1832 perfect1849 incoercible1861 1681 Table of Hard Words in S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Remaining Med. Wks. Elastick, that goeth off with a force like gunpowder, or spreads forcibly forth with a jerk. 1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 279 Wind is elastick and rarify'd [? air] pent up in some Vessel of the Body. 3. a. Of material substances, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous: That spontaneously resumes (after a longer or shorter interval) its normal bulk or shape after having been contracted, dilated, or distorted by external force. (In this sense elastical adj. appears to be somewhat older.) Also of motions, forces, etc.: Characteristic of an elastic body. Also elastic collision (German elastisch used in this sense, e.g. by Franck and Hertz 1913, in Verh. d. Deut. Physik. Ges. XV), a collision between two particles in which the total kinetic energy is conserved; elastic constant, a constant that expresses the reaction of a material to stress; elastic fluids: still often used specifically for gases (cf. A. 2), though liquids are now known to be perfectly elastic according to the modern definition; elastic hysteresis = hysteresis n.; elastic limit: (see quot. 1864); elastic modulus = modulus of elasticity n.; elastic scattering, the scattering of particles without loss of kinetic energy; elastic strain, a temporary deformation of a material under strain; elastic wave, a wave consisting of elastic deformations propagated through a medium. ‘Elasticity of shape’ belongs to solids only; ‘elasticity of bulk’ to bodies of all kinds. In the case of gases the ‘normal bulk’ to which they tend is indefinitely great. The strict modern use as applied to solids dates from James Bernouilli's memoir of 1694; respecting the earlier instances see note to sense A. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective] > elastic softc1330 elastical1660 springy1660 elastic1674 resilient1674 resiliating1709 the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > action of dispersing particles > [noun] > elastic scattering resonance scattering1922 Rutherford scattering1922 elastic scattering1933 potential scattering1937 resonant scattering1948 1674 W. Petty Disc. before Royal Soc. 3 An Appendix, to what is said of Springs and other Elastique bodies. 1693 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. vii. 12 The Air is now certainly known to consist of elastick or springy Particles. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 162 Every body that strikes against another produces a sound..simple, and but one in bodies which are not elastic. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. v. 117 At once he bent Against Tydides his elastic bow. 1794 J. G. Schmeisser Syst. Mineral. I. 290 Elastic Bitumen..is of a brown color, has no lustre, and is very elastic. 1796 S. Vince Princ. Hydrostat. Def. 2 An elastic fluid is one, whose dimensions are diminished by increasing the pressure. 1848 R. Mallet in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 21 97 The determination of the time of transit of the elastic wave through the earth's crust. 1850 R. W. Emerson Montaigne in Representative Men iv. 160 We want some coat woven of elastic steel. 1864 Q. Jrnl. Sc. 1 63 The elastic limit, that is the extent to which their particles may be relatively displaced without fracture or other permanent alteration. 1870 J. D. Everett Deschanel's Elem. Treat. Nat. Philos. I. iii. 22 The name of elastic fluids is often given to gases. 1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. I. i. 11 The atoms recoil, in virtue of the elastic force. 1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) xi. 197 The elastic boughs sprang back with dangerous force. 1886 J. Milne Earthquakes iii. 44 An earthquake consists of elastic waves of compression and distortion. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Elastic hysteresis, an effect, analogous to magnetic hysteresis in iron, observed in the relation of strain to stress when the stress to which an elastic body is subjected is alternately increased and diminished. 1913 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 88 299 We shall suppose for the sake of generality that the collision of ion and molecule is not perfectly elastic, an assumption which allows roughly for a possible loss of energy on collision. 1925 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 111 589 Ultimately the whole question of the tensile strength of metals and of the elastic limit resolves itself into an investigation of variation with temperature. 1927 H. N. Russell et al. Astron. II. xvii. 551 After colliding with the far more massive atom the electron may be found moving at the same speed as before; such a collision is called elastic. 1930 Engineering 14 Feb. 231/3 This must not be so high as to cause heating of the piece by elastic hysteresis. 1930 A. W. Judge Engineering Materials III. i. 12 It will be seen, then, that the elastic strains occurring in engineering work are very small indeed. 1930 E. Rutherford et al. Radiations from Radioactive Substances v. 134 The difficulties..may be illustrated by the distinction made to-day between an ‘elastic’, and ‘non-elastic’ collision of an electron with an atom. 1931 Discovery Apr. 123/1 Elastic waves travel through different rocks at different velocities. 1933 Physical Rev. 43 112 (heading) Elastic scattering of electrons by mercury atoms. 1936 P. F. Foster Mech. Testing of Metals & Alloys i. 2 If, after the application and removal of the load, the strain disappears completely, the material is said to be perfectly elastic and the strain is then referred to as elastic strain. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 284/1 Elastic modulus. 1941 in M. Gowing Brit. & Atomic Energy 1939–45 (1964) App. II. 403 The diffraction effect (elastic scattering) is confined mainly to small angles. 1948 Sci. News 7 14 For rubber, firmness therefore depends on the nearly constant ratio of pressure to amount of deformation, which is called an ‘elastic modulus’. 1950 Engineering CLXX. 97/2 The links..will break before the elastic limit of..the guide apparatus is reached. 1955 H. B. G. Casimir in W. Pauli Niels Bohr & Devel. Physics 122 The elastic constants in the superconducting state are not appreciably different from those in the normal state. 1955 Gloss. Terms Radiol. (B.S.I.) 14 Elastic scattering, in which the scattered radiation has the same quantum energy as the incident radiation. 1958 W. K. Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics iv. 30 When the neutrons are deflected the collisions are called elastic, since the kinetic energy is conserved and the collisions can be treated by the normal dynamics of billiard ball collisions. 1966 New Scientist 5 May 296/3 An electromagnetic interaction between the electron and the nucleus can cause the electron to veer off in its path at some angle while the interacting nucleus recoils in a different direction. This phenomenon is called ‘elastic scattering’. b. transferred. Of motion: Resembling that of an elastic body; springy. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > bodily movement > [adjective] > qualities of bodily movement > elastic supple1599 springing1655 springy1749 buoyant1835 fawn-like1838 elastic1848 1848 Baroness Bunsen in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) II. iii. 116 Her light, elastic, continually lively motions. c. figurative. Of feelings, temperaments, etc., hence, also, of persons: Not permanently or easily depressed; buoyant. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pleasure > cheerfulness > [adjective] > cheerfully optimistic sanguine1509 elastical1660 buoyanta1748 elastic1786 resilient1830 sunshine-showery1830 happy-go-lucky1835 toujours gai1899 bouncy1921 upbeat1947 blue skies2005 1786 H. More Florio 50 Th' elastic spirits nimbly bound. 1815 J. Scott Visit to Paris i. 4 An elastic spirit, anxious to overleap distance. 1828 T. Carlyle Goethe's Helena in Foreign Rev. 1 463 This elastic little urchin may have some relationship to the 'Son of Maia'. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 429 Those elastic spirits..had borne up against defeat. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh III. 116 The elastic temperament of Mr. Skirlaugh. 4. a. (Partly attributive use of the noun.) In popular language, esp.: That can be stretched without permanent alteration of size or shape. Applied to fabrics, or articles made of them, containing threads or thin strips of rubber usually covered by a woven material. †elastic gum [= French gomme élastique] : india-rubber; elastic web: cloth woven with india-rubber threads so as to stretch; elastic boots: boots with elastic web at the sides. So elastic sides, of elastic boots; also attributive, as elastic side boots, and elliptical = such boots; elastic-sided adj. Also elastic band (band n.² 2); elastic stocking, a remedial stocking made partly of rubber. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective] > elastic > stretchable stretchable1398 extensible1611 extensive1612 tensible1626 tensile1626 reaching1651 distendible1673 extendible1693 distractile1709 distensile1739 extensile1744 elastic1781 distensible1828 distensive1836 stretchy1854 stretching1897 two-way stretch1932 1781 T. Cavallo in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 71 519 Common vitriolic ether..could not affect elastic gum. 1793 Schmeisser in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 83 165 I have..fixed the tube into the stopper by means of a thin piece of elastic gum. 1803 W. Henry in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 93 31 A transfer bottle of elastic gum. c1835 in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) iii. 27 Madame L. begs also to recommend her highly approved elastic Parisian corsets. 1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 15 Elastic waistcoats, bosom friends, and warm stockings, poured in upon the curate. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 424 Elastic bands. The manufacture of braces and garters, with threads of caoutchouc..seems to have originated..in Vienna. 1846 A. Bain Brit. Patent 11,480 5 In order to support..the paper I employ elastic bands of india rubber. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 525/1 Elastic side, dress, and other boots. 1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 579/2 Corset..made to fasten in the front with patent spring clasp, and gauze elastic sides... Boots and shoes, with elastic sides, made by sewing pieces of India-rubber to the upper leather and then to the sole. 1855 J. H. Newman Let. in M. Trevor Newman: Light in Winter (1962) 63 My accident of the autumn not being well I had just been obliged to put on my elastic stocking again. 1856 R. Gardiner Handbk. of Foot 48 The introduction of elastic~web for the sides of boots, is a very important improvement. 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Elastic-bands, belts, braces, gaiters, &c., made with threads of caoutchouc, either naked or covered. 1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany i. 5 A pair of moderately strong French elastic boots. a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 776/2 Elastic-fabric loom, one having mechanical devices for stretching the rubber threads or shirrs, and holding them at a positive tension while the fabric is woven. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XII. 842/1 The threads used in making elastic webbing are usually cut from spread sheets. 1899 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Some Experiences Irish R.M. 295 Narrow feet in elastic-sided cloth boots. 1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 30 A man with a soft felt hat and elastic-sided boots. 1905 M. Barnes-Grundy Vacillations Hazel 292 An elastic-sided-booted woman. 1922 V. Woolf Jacob's Room vii. 136 One pair of elastic stockings for Mrs. Page, widow, aged sixty-three. 1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song ii. vi. 157 He's made millions..out of the elastic band—has some patent for making them last only just long enough. 1937 F. Stark Diary 25 Nov. in Winter in Arabia (1940) 29 The cook, who, in elastic-sided boots, announces dinner. 1970 Focus June 10/2 Elastic waistband means ordinary elastic is sewn on at the waist. b. figurative. Of immaterial things: That can be ‘stretched’ or expanded to suit circumstances; flexible, accommodating. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > [adjective] > able to be > specifically of something immaterial elastic1859 1859 J. Bright in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 155 805 The revenue of India is not elastic. 1864 Ld. Pollock in Morning Star 12 Jan. A lax or elastic interpretation of a criminal statute. 1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking viii. 164 Currency laws..will never make capital so elastic..any more than, etc. 1874 J. Morley On Compromise 117 A certain elastic relativity of dogma. 1884 R. W. Church Bacon ix. 212 The new ideas..would want a much more elastic..instrument than Latin. 1891 N.E.D. at Elastic Mod. He seems to have a very elastic conscience. c. Anatomy. elastic tissue: one of the varieties of areolar or connective tissue. elastic fibre, a fibre of a kind present in certain types of connective tissue and cartilage, characterized by being branched, easily stretched, and giving tissue a yellow colour when present in bulk. ΚΠ 1849 A. H. Hassall Microsc. Anat. Human Body I. xvii. 331 Acetic acid applied to a portion of mixed cellular tissue, at once allows the elastic fibres to be clearly seen. 1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. i. 41 Elastic Tissue is composed of homogeneous fibres. 1876 J. Quain Elem. Anat. (ed. 8) ii. 67 Yellow or Elastic Tissue. 1968 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxix. 10 The lung's elastic fibres form a system of branching springs. †5. In etymological sense: Propulsive. Obsolete (nonce use). ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > propulsive remigial1592 propellant1644 propulsive1648 propulsory1656 protrusive1676 projectile1696 projective1697 propelling1710 elastic1712 propulsatory1826 1712 R. Blackmore Creation iv. 166 By what Elastic Engines did she reer The starry Roof, and roll the Orbs in Air? B. n. Elastic cord or string, usually woven with india-rubber. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > elastic elastica1847 shirr1858 laccy1906 lacky band1950 a1847 in H. Howe Hist. Coll. Ohio (1847) 48 With the elastics supplied by the ladies, for a halter..the young dog passed from the shores of time. 1863 E. B. Drifting Clouds 140 Adèle had been enquiring for a piece of elastic for her hat. 1886 W. Hooper Sketches Acad. Life 13 The thorough-going prim man will always place a circle of elastic round his hair previous to putting on his college cap. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.n.1653
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