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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mucilage

Mucilage \Mu"ci*lage\, n. [F., from L. mucilago a musty juice, fr. mucus mucus, slime. See Mucus.]

  1. (Bot. Chem.) A gummy or gelatinous substance produced in certain plants by the action of water on the cell wall, as in the seeds of quinces, of flax, etc.

  2. An aqueous solution of gum, or of substances allied to it; a glue; a liquid adhesive; as, medicinal mucilage; mucilage for fastening envelopes.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mucilage

late 14c., mussillage, "viscous substance found in vegetable material," from Old French mucilage (14c.), from Late Latin mucilago "musty or moldy juice" (4c.), from Latin mucere "be musty or moldy," from mucus "mucus" (see mucus). Meaning "adhesive" is first attested 1859.

Wiktionary
mucilage

n. A thick gluey substance (gum) produced by many plants and some microorganisms.

WordNet
mucilage
  1. n. a gelatinous substance secreted by plants

  2. cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive [syn: glue, gum]

Wikipedia
Mucilage

Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide. Mucilage in plants plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes. Cacti (and other succulents) and flax seeds especially are rich sources of mucilage.

Usage examples of "mucilage".

If there be great prostration, with cold extremities, the carbonate of ammonia should be administered, in doses of from one to two grains, every second hour, in gum arabic mucilage.

The chemical constituents of the Strawberry are--a peculiar volatile aroma, sugar, mucilage, pectin, citric and malic acids in equal parts, woody fibre, and water.

White Poppy capsules, when dried, furnish papaverine and narcotine, with some mucilage, and a little waxy matter.

It contains resin and mucilage, in addition to saponin, which is its leading principle, and by virtue of which decoctions of the root produce a soapy froth.

The root contains tannin and mucilage, it is therefore astringent and demulcent.

In the latter they are protected by special concave scales, while in the Anthocerotaceae they occupy some of the mucilage slits between the cells of the lower surface of the thallus.

If I had needed any mucilage I would have turned to the proper page, after procuring the needful amounts of gum dextrine, acetic acid, water and alcohol, if I had to rob the compass.

If there be great prostration, with cold extremities, the carbonate of ammonia should be administered, in doses of from one to two grains, every second hour, in gum arabic mucilage.

During the previous battle, reavers had begun to build some sort of a strange tower there, with blue spires made of mucilage that twisted up like narwhale horns.

The mucilage had been shaped into riblike pillars that arced up gently to reach a point some thirty feet overhead.

The inner bark furnishes a soft mucilage, which may be applied externally with healing effect to burns, scalds, and inflammatory swellings.

As she peeled the dark brown skin off the comfrey roots she had picked on the way back, a glutinous mucilage oozed out.

After that, Carlie poured mucilage into all six shoes impartially until the bottle was empty, then took them back to their former positions in the dressing-room.

By this she meant the arbitrary, the odd, the ordinary, the mucilage of daily life that cements our genuine moments of being.

The bark of this American Elm, though not in this country as in the United States an official drug, is considered one of the most valuable remedies in herbal practice, the abundant mucilage it contains having wonderfully strengthening and healing qualities.