Definition of "polystyrene" [polystyrene]

• A rigid clear thermoplastic polymer that can be molded into objects or made into a foam that is used to insulate refrigerators. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Four nearly identical, 1976 preparatory stages of "Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece" are all about a foot tall: two plaster models, one of them marked into numbered sections; a model in polystyrene and a bronze version, with a warm and glowing satiny brown-gold patina."
• "This highly durable spawn of the 20th century, also known as polystyrene, is manufactured using benzene, from coal; styrene, from petroleum; and ethylene, a "blowing agent" used in the process since the crackdown on CFCs."
• "They're made of polystyrene, which is quite interesting that they're managing to remain upright of their volition in the cold weather that you can see."