Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various viscous, water-soluble polysaccharides produced by certain plants, algae, and microorganisms.
- noun A sticky substance used as an adhesive.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Moldi-ness; mustiness; rottenness; a slimy mass.
- noun Gum extracted from the seeds, roots, and bark of plants.
- noun In chem., the general name of a group of carbohydrates, having the formula C6H10O5n.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot. Chem.) A gummy or gelatinous substance produced in certain plants by the action of water on the cell wall, as in the seeds of quinces, of flax, etc.
- noun An aqueous solution of gum, or of substances allied to it; a glue; a liquid adhesive
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A thick gluey substance (
gum ) produced by manyplants and some microorganisms.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a gelatinous substance secreted by plants
- noun cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
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Examples
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What's called the mucilage, which is the sort of fruity part, which, by the way, tastes rather sweet if you chew it, that has to come off.
Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed Our World 1999
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This accounts for my glib use of the word mucilage, as well as the titles of other staples.
Men, Women, and Boats Stephen Crane 1885
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_ -- This substance is largely imported from America, where it is produced from the dark-coloured residue, termed mucilage, obtained from the refining of crude cotton-seed oil.
The Handbook of Soap Manufacture H. A. Appleton
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It is particularly by the mucilage, which is found in greater or less quantity in all vegetables, that the purity of oil is affected.
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No doubt the nutritious quality of the tree is owing to the mucilage, which is apparently of the same nature as that of the nearly allied Tragacanth tree of Sierra Leone
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia Thomas Mitchell 1823
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Marshmallow contains large sugar molecules called mucilage, which are thought to exert a soothing effect on mucous membranes, and this is the basis of most proposed uses of the herb.
Wil's Ebay E-Store 2010
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Marshmallow contains large sugar molecules called mucilage, which are thought to exert a soothing effect on mucous membranes, and this is the basis of most proposed uses of the herb.
Wil's Ebay E-Store 2010
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Nevertheless, Jaffrey does offer some great advice for discouraging the mucilage which is really down to the preparation and cooking style you choose.
Gastropod: Okra Kirsty 2006
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I have never had a problem with the okra 'mucilage', but I know some people are completely appalled by it.
Gastropod: Okra Kirsty 2006
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Nevertheless, Jaffrey does offer some great advice for discouraging the mucilage which is really down to the preparation and cooking style you choose.
Archive 2006-10-01 Kirsty 2006
bilby commented on the word mucilage
"Up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) long, the mucilages appear naturally, usually near Mediterranean coasts in summer. The season's warm weather makes seawater more stable, which facilitates the bonding of the organic matter that makes up the blobs."
- Christine Dell'Amore, Giant, Mucus-Like Sea Blobs on the Rise, Pose Danger, nationalgeographic.com, 8 Oct 2009.
October 12, 2009
reesetee commented on the word mucilage
That is just utterly vile. And scary.
October 15, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word mucilage
"Potato starch, known as mucilage, was treated as a thickener for soups and stews, though from the 1820s its use would be overtaken by arrowroot, imported from the East Indies."
--Kate Colquhoun, Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking (NY: Bloomsbury, 2007), 268
January 18, 2017