Elastic Meaning
/ɪˈlæstɪk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjCapable of stretching; particularly, capable of stretching so as to return to an original shape or size when force is released.
adjMade of elastic.
Sentence Examples
A rubber ball bounces because it is elastic.
This swimming suit is made of elastic material.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fabric is very ____ and can stretch to twice its original length.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A rubber ball bounces because it is ____.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁elh₂- Proto-Indo-European *h₁l̥h₂-tósder. Ancient Greek ἐλᾰστός (elăstós) Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos New Latin -icus New Latin elasticusbor. French élastiquebor. English elastic From French élastique, from New Latin elasticus (“elastic”), from Ancient Greek ἐλαστός (elastós), alternative form of ἐλατός (elatós, “ductile”) (cf. ἐλατήρ (elatḗr, “a driver, hurler”)), from ἐλαύνω (elaúnō, “to drive, set in motion, push, strike, beat out”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. For all reverbation lasts for a short time, and produces new sounds which mix with those which are coming in."
— 1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 6th edition, volume 20, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501:
"He could see that she was tastefully, though not richly, dressed, and that she walked with an elastic step that revealed a light heart and the vigor of perfect health. Her face, of course, he could not analyze, since he had caught only the one brief but convincing glimpse of it."
— 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:
"It was now about six o'clock, and that first freshness was on the air, which is to the day what youth is to life,—so light, so elastic, so sweet, and so brief:..."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 74:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fabric is very ____ and can stretch to twice its original length.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A rubber ball bounces because it is ____.