| 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) |
| contact induced spreading | The response in which contact between two epithelial cells leads to a stabilised contact and the increased spreading of the cells so that the area covered is greater than that covered by the two cells in isolation. (18 Nov 1997) |
| spreading depression | A decrease of activity evoked by local stimulation of the cerebral cortex and spreading slowly over the whole cortex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spreading factor | <enzyme> Enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid, found in lysosomes. (18 Nov 1997) |
| superficial spreading melanoma | <tumour> Primary cutaneous melanoma characterised by intraepidermal growth extending laterally beyond the site of dermal invasion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Adson forceps | A small thumb forceps with two teeth on one tip and one tooth on the other. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alligator forceps | A long forceps with a small hinged jaw on the end. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Allis forceps | A straight grasping forceps with serrated jaws, used to forcibly grasp or retract tissues or structures. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Arruga's forceps | Forceps for the intracapsular extraction of a cataract. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial forceps | A locking forceps with sloping blades for grasping the end of a blood vessel until a ligature is applied. (05 Mar 2000) |
| axis-traction forceps | Obstetrical forceps provided with a second handle so attached that traction can be made in the line in which the head must move in the axis of the pelvis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Barton's forceps | An obstetrical forceps with one fixed curved blade and a hinged anterior blade for application to a high transverse head. (05 Mar 2000) |