plasma

/ˈplæzmə/

/ˈplæzmə/

Other forms: plasmas

Plasma is the colorless liquid part of blood. Plasma holds blood cells but is not made from them.

Plasma, a crucial part of blood, can be donated for use in medical procedures, either from plasma donation or as part of a regular blood donation. Another meaning of plasma is in physical chemistry — a state of matter (in fact the most common state of matter) made from a gas that has lost its electrons from heat. This is where those big-screen plasma televisions get their name from.

Definitions of plasma

1. noun

   the colorless watery fluid of the blood and lymph that contains no cells, but in which the blood cells (erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes) are suspended
   synonyms: blood plasma, plasm

   type of:

   ECF, extracellular fluid

   liquid containing proteins and electrolytes including the liquid in blood plasma and interstitial fluid
2. noun

   (physical chemistry) a fourth state of matter distinct from solid or liquid or gas and present in stars and fusion reactors; a gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their electrons, leaving a highly electrified collection of nuclei and free electrons
   “particles in space exist in the form of a plasma”

   types:

   interplanetary gas

   a rarefied flow of gas and charged particles (plasma) that stream from the sun and form the solar wind

   type of:

   state, state of matter

   (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)
3. noun

   a green slightly translucent variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone
   type of:

   calcedony, chalcedony

   a milky or greyish translucent to transparent quartz