Fiber \Fi"ber\, Fibre \Fi"bre\,, n. [F. fibre, L. fibra.]
1. One of the delicate, threadlike portions of which the
tissues of plants and animals are in part constituted; as,
the fiber of flax or of muscle.
2. Any fine, slender thread, or threadlike substance; as, a
fiber of spun glass; especially, one of the slender
rootlets of a plant.
3. Sinew; strength; toughness; as, a man of real fiber.
Yet had no fibers in him, nor no force. --Chapman.
4. A general name for the raw material, such as cotton, flax,
hemp, etc., used in textile manufactures.
Fiber gun, a kind of steam gun for converting, wood, straw,
etc., into fiber. The material is shut up in the gun with
steam, air, or gas at a very high pressure which is
afterward relieved suddenly by letting a lid at the muzzle
fly open, when the rapid expansion separates the fibers.
Fiber plants (Bot.), plants capable of yielding fiber
useful in the arts, as hemp, flax, ramie, agave, etc.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|