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 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
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"
line thrown from a vessel that people can cling to in order to save themselves from drowning
line that raises or lowers a deep-sea diver
support that enables people to survive or to continue doing something (often by providing an essential connection); "the airlift provided a lifeline for Berlin"; "she offered me a lifeline in my time of grief"
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