[plas.ma] n [G, fr. LL, something molded, fr. Gk, fr. plassein to mold--more at plaster] (1772) 1: a green faintly translucent quartz
2. [NL, fr. LL] a: the fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk as distinguished from suspended material b: the juice that can be expressed from muscle
3: protoplasm
4: a collection of charged particles (as in the atmospheres of stars or in a metal) containing about equal numbers of positive ions and electrons and exhibiting some properties of a gas but differing from a gas in being a good conductor of electricity and in being affected by a magnetic field -- plas.mat.ic adj