Pulped

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of converting solid materials into a soft, wet mass commonly refers to the transformation of original substances into a fibrous texture
2. The process of transforming hard materials into a soft, mushy form usually indicates the breakdown of solids into a wet, fibrous consistency
3. The act of rendering solid matter into a soft, moist substance typically involves breaking down materials into a fibrous and pliable mass

Etymology: "Pulped" is simply the past tense and past participle of "pulp," so its history is really the history of that verb. English took "pulp" from Latin "pulpa," which referred to flesh or the soft, fleshy part of something, and it reached English through Middle English as "pulpe." The Latin sense of soft flesh carried over directly, so the core idea of something soft and yielding has stayed constant from classical times to the present. The verb grew out of the noun. To pulp something is to reduce it to that soft, mushy state, and in modern English the word is most often used for crushing fruit or for turning wood and rags into the fibrous mass used to make paper. The meaning moved from a body part or a fleshy fruit to a material that has been broken down into fibres, but the image of a soft, wet mass remains the same.

Synonyms: mashed, squashed

Antonyms: whole, intact