Celluloid (redirected from Xylonite)

celluloid [from cellulose], transparent, colorless synthetic plastic made by treating cellulose nitrate with camphor and alcohol. Celluloid was the first important synthetic plastic and was widely used as a substitute for more expensive substances, such as ivory, amber, horn, and tortoiseshell. It is highly flammable and has been largely superseded by newer plastics with more desirable properties. It has been used for combs, brush handles, billiard balls, knife handles, buttons, and other useful objects.

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celluloid

Name for the first synthetic plastic material, developed in 1869. Made of a colloid of cellulose nitrate (nitrocellulose) plasticized with camphor, it is tough, cheap to produce, and resistant to water, oils, and dilute acids. It found a great variety of uses in combs, films, toys, and many other mass-produced consumer goods. Though it has been replaced in many uses by nonflammable synthetic polymers (originally cellulose acetate and Bakelite, then a host of others), it is still manufactured and used.

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celluloid

1. a flammable thermoplastic material consisting of cellulose nitrate mixed with a plasticizer, usually camphor: used in sheets, rods, and tubes for making a wide range of articles

2. 

a. a cellulose derivative used for coating film

b. one of the transparent sheets on which the constituent drawings of an animated film are prepared

c. a transparent sheet used as an overlay in artwork

d. cinema film

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celluloid

A relatively tough thermoplastic material made from plasticized cellulose nitrate with camphor; inflammable, easily molded, readily dyed, not light-stable.

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Celluloid 

a plastic based on cellulose nitrate (pyroxylin). It also contains a plasticizer (dibutyl phthalate, castor oil, petrolatum, or synthetic camphor) and a dye. Celluloid is processed by hot stamping, pressing, and mechanical working. It is used in the manufacture of various products, including plane-table boards, rulers, certain haberdashery goods, and toys. Because Celluloid is highly flammable, there has been a considerable reduction in its use.