noun
pulp
puhlp
noun
1
A soft, wet, shapeless mass, especially the fleshy inner part of a fruit or the mashed fibers used to make paper.
"She scooped the pulp out of the melon."
"The mill turns wood chips into pulp for paper."
2
Cheap fiction printed on rough paper, known for lurid or sensational stories.
"He collects old pulp magazines from the 1940s."
verb
1
To crush something into a soft, pulpy mass, or to reduce it to that state.
"Unsold books are often pulped rather than stored."
How to Use Pulp
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe soft mushy part of something, or cheap sensational fiction.
Common mistake
"Beaten to a pulp" is a common idiom meaning badly hurt, separate from the fruit/paper senses.
Common pairings
orange pulp
pulp fiction
pulp mill
beaten to a pulp
Word Forms
more pulp comparative, pulped past tense, pulps plural, pulps singular, most pulp superlative
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She scooped the _____ out of the melon.
Etymology
From Latin pulpa, meaning fleshy part or pulp.