fibre
, (U.S.) fiber
n
1 a natural or synthetic filament that may be spun into yarn, such as cotton or nylon
2 cloth or other material made from such yarn
3 a long fine continuous thread or filament
4 the structure of any material or substance made of or as if of fibres; texture
5 essential substance or nature
all the fibres of his being were stirred
6 strength of character (esp. in the phrase moral fibre)
a a narrow elongated thick-walled cell: a constituent of sclerenchyma tissue
b such tissue extracted from flax, hemp, etc., used to make linen, rope, etc.
c a very small root or twig
9 (Anatomy) any thread-shaped structure, such as a nerve fibre (C14: from Latin fibra filament, entrails) ♦
fibred (U.S.) ♦
fibered adj ♦
fibreless (U.S.) ♦
fiberless adj
acrylic fibre
n a textile fibre, such as Orlon or Acrilan, produced from acrylonitrile
carbon fibre
n a black silky thread of pure carbon made by heating and stretching textile fibres and used because of its lightness and strength at high temperatures for reinforcing resins, ceramics, and metals, esp. in turbine blades and for fishing rods
dietary fibre
n fibrous substances in fruits and vegetables, such as the structural polymers of cell walls, consumption of which aids digestion and is believed to help prevent certain diseases, (Also called)
roughage
fibre optics
n functioning as sing the transmission of information modulated on light carried down very thin flexible fibres of glass
See also →
optical fibre
♦
fibreoptic adj
glass fibre
n another name for →
fibreglass
muscle fibre
n any of the numerous elongated contractile cells that contain many nuclei and make up striated muscle
nerve fibre
n a threadlike extension of a nerve cell; axon
optical fibre
n a communications cable consisting of a thin glass fibre in a protective sheath. Light transmitted along the fibre may be modulated with vision, sound, or data signals
See also →
fibre optics