I. pulp 1 /pʌlp/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: pulpa 'flesh, pulp' ]
1 . SOFT SUBSTANCE [singular, uncountable] a very soft substance that is almost liquid, made by crushing plants, wood, vegetables etc:
Mash the bananas to a pulp.
timber grown for wood pulp (=used for making paper)
a soft pulp of leaves and mud
2 . FRUIT/VEGETABLE [uncountable] the soft inside part of a fruit or vegetable:
Halve the melon and scoop out the pulp.
3 . BOOKS/FILMS ETC [uncountable] American English books, magazines, films etc that are badly written and that contain lots of sex, violence etc:
an ad in a pulp magazine
pulp fiction
4 . beat somebody to a pulp informal to seriously injure someone by hitting them many times
5 . TOOTH [uncountable] part of the inside of a tooth
—pulpy adjective :
Cook slowly until soft and pulpy.
II. pulp 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to beat or crush something until it becomes very soft and almost liquid:
pulped apples
2 . [usually passive] to beat or hit someone’s face or body very badly:
His body was pulped by the impact of the train.
3 . to make wood or old books and newspapers into paper:
wood pulping techniques
Unsold novels are sent to be pulped.