CELLULOID

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does celluloid mean? 

• CELLULOID (noun)
  The noun CELLULOID has 2 senses:

1. highly flammable substance made from cellulose nitrate and camphor; used in e.g. motion-picture and X-ray film; its use has decreased with the development of nonflammable thermoplastics

2. a medium that disseminates moving pictures

  Familiarity information: CELLULOID used as a noun is rare.

• CELLULOID (adjective)
  The adjective CELLULOID has 1 sense:

1. artificial as if portrayed in a film

  Familiarity information: CELLULOID used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CELLULOID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Highly flammable substance made from cellulose nitrate and camphor; used in e.g. motion-picture and X-ray film; its use has decreased with the development of nonflammable thermoplastics

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("celluloid" is a kind of...):

thermoplastic; thermoplastic resin (a material that softens when heated and hardens again when cooled)

Meronyms (substance of "celluloid"):

camphor (a resin obtained from the camphor tree; used in making celluloid and liniment)

cellulose nitrate; guncotton; nitrocellulose; nitrocotton (a nitric acid ester; used in lacquers and explosives)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A medium that disseminates moving pictures

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

celluloid; cinema; film

Context example:

film coverage of sporting events

Hypernyms ("celluloid" is a kind of...):

medium (a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

business; business enterprise; commercial enterprise (the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects)

Domain member category:

cut-in; insert ((film) a still picture that is introduced and that interrupts the action of a film)

MacGuffin; McGuffin ((film) a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "celluloid"):

silver screen (the film industry)

• CELLULOID (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Artificial as if portrayed in a film

Synonyms:

celluloid; synthetic

Context example:

a novel with flat celluloid characters

Similar:

artificial; unreal (contrived by art rather than nature)