fi|ber

fi|ber «FY buhr», noun.

1. a) a thread; threadlike part; any one of the very fine, long, threadlike pieces of which many organic and some inorganic materials consist; filament: »

A muscle is made up of many fibers.

b) a similar structure of artificial origin: »

a fiber of rayon, a fiber of glass.

2. a substance made up of threads or threadlike parts: »

Hemp fiber can be spun into rope or woven into coarse cloth.

3. texture: »

a cloth of coarse fiber.

4. Figurative. character; nature: »

He was a person of strong moral fiber and could resist temptation.

5. one of the narrow elongated cells found in the bast of plants.

6. a slender, threadlike root of a plant.

7. one of the most slender twigs of a tree or bush: »

to the last fiber of the loftiest tree (Shelley).

8. = vulcanized fiber. (Cf. ↑vulcanized fiber)

9. = dietary fiber: (Cf. ↑dietary fiber) »

Some types of fiber bind bile salts and acids, cholesterol, and other sterols, enhancing their elimination and thereby lowering their level in the blood (Mina W. Lamb).

Also, fibre.

╂[< Old French fibre, learned borrowing from Latin fibra]

–fi´ber|less, adjective.