Celluloid

English Meaning

A substance composed essentially of gun cotton and camphor, and when pure resembling ivory in texture and color, but variously colored to imitate coral, tortoise shell, amber, malachite, etc. It is used in the manufacture of jewelry and many small articles, as combs, brushes, collars, and cuffs; -- originally called xylonite.

1. A colorless flammable material made from nitrocellulose and camphor and used to make photographic film.
2. Motion-picture film: "a strange, anachronistic sight: theater pieces transferred to celluloid” ( David Ansen).
3. The cinema; motion pictures: "There are no heroes but in celluloid” ( Charles Langbridge Morgan).
4. Made of or using a material made from nitrocellulose and camphor.
5. Of or portrayed on film or in motion pictures.
6. Artificial; synthetic: a novel with flat, celluloid characters.