microplastic

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word microplastic. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word microplastic, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say microplastic in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word microplastic you have here. The definition of the word microplastic will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofmicroplastic, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

micro- +‎ plastic

Noun

microplastic (countable and uncountable, plural microplastics)

  1. Small particles of plastic (typically less than 5 mm) produced by the degradation of plastic products, found in high levels in the marine environment and increasingly throughout all environments and in food and drinks.
    Hyponym: microbead
    • 2022 March 24, Damian Carrington, “Microplastics found in human blood for first time”, in The Guardian‎:
      Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics now contaminate the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans.
    • 2023 June 5, Yvonne Gordon, “Microplastics found in every sample of water taken during Ocean Race”, in The Guardian‎:
      Sailors testing the waters during the Ocean Race, which travels through some of the world’s most remote ocean environments, have found microplastics in every sample.

Coordinate terms

Translations

Adjective

microplastic (not comparable)

  1. Exhibiting microplasticity.

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English microplastic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmi.kroːˌplɛs.tɪk/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: mi‧cro‧plas‧tic

Noun

microplastic n (plural microplastics)

  1. (Netherlands) microplastic
    Synonym: microplastiek
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia