vinyl

/ˈvaɪnl/

/ˈvaɪnəl/

Other forms: vinyls

Vinyl is a common type of plastic that's often found on kitchen floors, in plumbing pipes and fittings, and in medical equipment. If you have a record player, you might enjoy hunting for vintage vinyl records at your local music store or thrift shop.

It would be hard to get through an entire day without using, or at least seeing, vinyl. From underground sewer pipes to raincoats, boots, toys, and water bottles, vinyl is all around us. Before CDs (and streaming services), music was pressed on vinyl, and some people think music sounds better this way. This versatile material was discovered accidentally in the 1920s by a scientist who experimented with it by making shoe heels and golf balls. Vinyl is short for polyvinyl, or "a polymer of vinyl chloride."

Definitions of vinyl

1. noun

   shiny and tough and flexible plastic; used especially for floor coverings
   type of:

   plastic

   generic name for certain synthetic or semisynthetic materials that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or filaments or used for making e.g. coatings and adhesives
2. noun

   a univalent chemical radical derived from ethylene
   synonyms: vinyl group, vinyl radical

   type of:

   chemical group, group, radical

   (chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule