I. noun
or fi·bre ˈfībə(r)
( -s )
Etymology: French fibre, from Latin fibra
1. : a thread or a structure or object resembling a thread: as
a.
(1) : a slender root (as of a grass)
(2) : an elongate tapering cell that has at maturity a small lumen and no protoplasm content, that is found in many plant organs and is especially well developed in the xylem and phloem of the vascular system, and that imparts elasticity, flexibility, and tensile strength to the plant or organ — compare sclereid
b.
(1) : the axis cylinder of a nerve cell with its sheath
(2) : one of the structures composing most of the intercellular matrix of ordinary and elastic connective tissues
(3) : one of the elongated contractile cells constituting muscular tissue
c. : a natural or man-made object that has a length usually many hundred or thousand times greater than its width, that possesses considerable tensile strength, pliability, and resistance especially against heat, light, some chemicals, and mechanical abrasion, that is obtained from animals (as wool, hair, silk, fur), vegetable matter (as cotton, flax, hemp, straw), or minerals or metals (as asbestos, aluminum, gold) or that is synthesized industrially (as rayon, nylon, glass fiber), and that may be wholly crystalline like asbestos and metal wires, wholly amorphous like glass, or in the case of the most widely used fibers, which are high polymers, partly crystalline and partly amorphous with elongated crystalline domains embedded in an amorphous matrix consisting of the same chemical substance ; specifically : a fiber sufficiently long, pliable, cohesive, and strong to be spun into a yarn made into a fabric or cordage or used in loose masses for stuffing (as in pillows or mattresses) — see fibril c, micelle ; compare filament a(3)
2. : a material made of or from fibers: as
a. : a durable material resembling straw that is woven of prepared paper and used especially for suitcases, furniture, mats, and caps
b. : the vegetable tissues constituting the major raw material of most papers
c. : vulcanized fiber
3.
a. : an element that imparts strength, body, or substance
his objectivity gave fiber to his point of view
b. : basic toughness : durability , fortitude , strength
hurdles that might have seemed insurmountable to persons of lesser fiber — R.L.Taylor
c. : essential structure or makeup : essence
the very fiber of a person's thought
4. : crude fiber
5. : the pattern of directional structure in a wrought metal (as wire)
II. ˈfēˌb]e(ə)r, ]beə, ˈfībə(r)
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, beaver — more at beaver
synonym of ondatra
III. noun
: roughage 2