| plaster | 1. <medicine> An external application of a consistency harder than ointment, prepared for use by spreading it on linen, leather, silk, or other material. It is adhesive at the ordinary temperature of the body, and is used, according to its composition, to produce a medicinal effect, to bind parts together, etc.; as, a porous plaster; sticking plaster. 2. A composition of lime, water, and sand, with or without hair as a bond, for coating walls, ceilings, and partitions of houses. See Mortar. 3. Calcined gypsum, or plaster of Paris, especially when ground, as used for making ornaments, figures, moldings, etc.; or calcined gypsum used as a fertiliser. Plaster cast, a copy of an object obtained by pouring plaster of Paris mixed with water into a mold. Plaster of Paris. [So called because originally brought from a suburb of Paris. <mathematics> A bandage saturated with a paste of plaster of Paris, which on drying forms a perfectly fitting splint. Plaster stone, any species of gypsum. See Gypsum. Origin: AS, a plaster (in sense 1), fr. L. Emplastrum, Gr, fr. To daub on, stuff in; in + to mold: cf. OF. Plastre a plaster (in sense 2), F. Platre. Cf. Plastic, Emplaster, Piaster] [Formerly written also plaister. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| plaster bandage | A roller bandage impregnated with plaster of Paris and applied moist; used to make a rigid dressing for a fracture or diseased joint. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plaster of Paris disease | Atrophy of bone in a limb which has been encased for some time in a plaster of Paris splint. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plaster splint | A splint constructed of bandages impregnated with plaster of Paris. (05 Mar 2000) |
| basilar impression | An invagination of the base of the skull into the posterior fossa with compression of the brainstem and cerebellar structures into the foramen magnum. Compare: platybasia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac impression of liver | A depression on the superior area of the diaphragmatic surface of the liver corresponding to the position of the heart. Synonym: impressio cardiaca hepatis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardiac impression of lung | The depression on the medial surface of each lung produced by the presence of the heart. It is more pronounced on the left lung. Synonym: impressio cardiaca pulmonis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| gastric impression | A hollow on the visceral surface of the left lobe of the liver corresponding to the location of the stomach. Synonym: impressio gastrica. (05 Mar 2000) |
| partial denture impression | An impression or negative copy of all or a part of the partially edentulous dental arch or area, made for the purpose of designing or constructing a partial denture. (05 Mar 2000) |
| renal impression | A hollow on the visceral surface of the right lobe of the liver, in which lies the right kidney. Synonym: impressio renalis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mental impression | 1. The act of impressing, or the state of being impressed; the communication of a stamp, mold, style, or character, by external force or by influence. 2. <dentistry> The first step in making a model of your teeth. You bite into a container filled with algenate, and the algenate hardens to produce a mold of your teeth. 3. That which is impressed; stamp; mark; indentation; sensible result of an influence exerted from without. "The stamp and clear impression of good sense." (Cowper) "To shelter us from impressions of weather, we must spin, we must weave, we must build." (Barrow) 4. The pressure of the type on the paper, or the result of such pressure, as regards its appearance; as, a heavy impression; a clear, or a poor, impression; also, a single copy as the result of printing, or the whole edition printed at a given time. "Ten impressions which his books have had." (Dryden) Origin: F. Impression, L. Impressio. (27 Oct 1998) |
| rhomboid impression | <anatomy> An irregular pitted area on the inferior surface of the clavicle at its sternal end, giving attachment to the costoclavicular ligament. Synonym: impressio ligamenti costoclavicularis, costal tuberosity, rhomboid impression, tuberositas costalis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| petrosal impression of the pallium | A shallow impression on the inferior surface of the cerebral hemisphere made by the superior margin of the petrous part of the temporal bone. Synonym: impressio petrosa pallii. (05 Mar 2000) |
| colic impression | <anatomy> A hollow on the visceral surface of the right lobe of the liver anteriorly, corresponding to the situation of the right flexure and beginning of the transverse colon. Synonym: impressio colica. (05 Mar 2000) |
| complete denture impression | An impression of an edentulous arch made for the purpose of constructing a complete denture, a negative registration of the entire denture-bearing, stabilizing area of either the maxillae or mandible, a negative registration of the entire denture foundation and border seal areas present in the edentulous mouth. (05 Mar 2000) |