an elastic material obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus) that can be vulcanized and finished into a variety of products
any of various synthetic elastic materials whose properties resemble natural rubber
returned for lack of funds; "a rubber check"; "a no-good check"
a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; "he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"; "reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"; "the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out"
a tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing
a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike percussion instruments
a sports implement with a long handle and a head like a hammer; used in sports (polo or croquet) to hit a ball
a compound made artificially by chemical reactions
of a proposition whose truth value is determined by observation or facts; "`all men are arrogant' is a synthetic proposition"
systematic combining of root and modifying elements into single words
involving or of the nature of synthesis (combining separate elements to form a coherent whole) as opposed to analysis; "limnology is essentially a synthetic science composed of elements...that extend well beyond the limits of biology"- P.S.Welch
not genuine or natural; "counterfeit rhetoric that flourishes when passions are synthetic"- George Will
a life preserver consisting of a connected pair of inflatable bags that fit under a person's arms and provide buoyancy; used by children learning to swim