Plasma \Plas"ma\, n. [See Plasm.]
   1. (Min.) A
         variety of quartz, of a color between grass green
      and
         leek green, which is found associated with common
     
         chalcedony. It was much esteemed by the ancients for
     
         making engraved ornaments.
      [1913 Webster]

   2.
         (Biol.) The viscous material of an animal or vegetable
    
          cell, out of which the various tissues are formed by a
   
           process of differentiation; protoplasm.
      [1913
         Webster]

   3. Unorganized material; elementary matter.

              [1913 Webster]

   4. (Med.) A mixture of starch and
         glycerin, used as a
      substitute for ointments. --U. S.
         Disp.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. same as {blood
         plasma}.
      [PJC]

   6. (physics) a state of matter
         in which charged particles
      such as electrons and
         atomi nuclei have sufficiently high
      energy to move
         freely, rather than be bound in atoms as in
      ordinary
         matter; it has some of the properties of a gas,
      but
         is a conductor of electricity.

   Note: In a typical
         plasma, the number of positive and
         negative particles are approximately equal. Plasmas are
         found naturally in the atmosphere of stars, and can be
         created in special laboratory apparatus.
         [PJC]

   Blood
         plasma (Physiol.), the colorless fluid
         of the blood,
      in which the red and white blood
         corpuscles are suspended.
      It may be obtained by
         centrifuation of blood to remove the
      blood cells. It
         is distinguished from serum in that
      plasma
         still
         has the fibrin of blood, and may be clotted,
      while in
         serum the fibrin has been removed.

   Muscle plasma
         (Physiol.), the fundamental part of muscle
      fibers, a
         thick, viscid, albuminous fluid contained within
      the
         sarcolemma, which on the death of the muscle
     
         coagulates to a semisolid mass.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]
         Plasmatic