Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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| Main Entry: | Teflon |
| Part of Speech: | adj |
| Definition: | untouched by scandal despite evidence of being involved |
| Example: | Reagan was called the 'Teflon president' by Jimmy Carter. |
| Usage: | figurative |
Teflon
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| Teflon polytetrafluoroethylene |
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Teflon
a strong, tough, waxy, nonflammable resin belonging to the family of organic polymers, substances composed of large molecules formed by chemical combination of many small ones (monomers) into chains or networks. Known by the abbreviation PTFE or the trade name Teflon, it is distinguished by its complete indifference to attack by almost all chemicals and by its slippery surface; it retains its physical properties over a wide temperature range (-270 to 250 C, or -450 to 480 F). These qualities suit polytetrafluoroethylene to uses in gaskets, bearings, linings for containers and pipes, and parts for valves and pumps that must operate in corrosive environments and for protective coatings on cooking utensils, saw blades, and other articles
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