Key terms & definitions

The ability of a material to undergo permanent deformation without breaking.

The ability of a fat to be shaped or spread under light pressure without becoming fully liquid.

Surgery that repairs or reconstructs damaged body tissues, including skin and facial features.

A joining process in which compatible thermoforming plastic surfaces are heated and fused together, sometimes using a matching plastic welding rod.

Metal supplied as a relatively thick, flat piece.

A stage of a graph where the dependent variable remains approximately constant even though the independent variable continues to increase.

A flat section of a temperature–time graph where the temperature stays constant.

A flat section of a graph. On a temperature–time graph for melting ice, it shows that the temperature remains approximately constant during melting.

A section of a graph where the measured value stays approximately constant.

The zone where two tectonic plates meet and move relative to one another.

A small fragment of a cell that helps blood to clot at a damaged blood vessel.

A small cell fragment involved in blood clotting.

A small fragment in blood that helps it clot, limiting blood loss when a blood vessel is damaged.

The boundary where two tectonic plates meet.

The theory that Earth’s rigid outer layer is divided into plates which move relative to one another, creating and destroying crust and causing earthquakes and volcanic activity.

A company or service that hosts media content created by others; YouTube is an example.

Affection and emotional support between people without a romantic or sexual relationship.

A close, affectionate relationship that is not romantic or sexual.

A rigid disc coated with magnetic material inside a hard disk drive.

A credible process that could explain how one factor produces or contributes to an outcome.

A scientifically reasonable process explaining how a proposed cause could produce an outcome.

A scientifically credible process explaining how a factor could produce an outcome.

How faithfully a digital sound recording reproduces the original sound when played.

An aggressive action by a sports performer that harms or risks harming another person and goes beyond the legitimate physical contact of the sport.

A permanent building designed for the performance of plays.

Assuming power over life and death traditionally associated with God, especially without accepting the obligations that accompany that power.

A writer of plays intended for performance in a theatre.

A fold in fabric, secured in position, that controls fullness and can open out to allow movement.

Forming deliberate folds in fabric and securing them with stitching to create shape or fullness.

A Roman citizen who was not a patrician. Plebeians included both poorer citizens and prosperous people seeking greater political influence.