any of a class of solid or semisolid viscous substances obtained either as exudations from certain plants or prepared by polymerization of simple molecules
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"
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"