plasteel n.
an artificial material that combines some of the qualities of plastic (such as lightness or transparency) with some of the qualities of steel (such as hardness or strength)
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1942
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Cold and rugged it was, lashed by furious gales that tore with futile fury at the plasteel dome which Elmer Dunk called home.
He Was PoorโฆBut He Was Honest in Censored Mar. 7/1 -
1945
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Frank Belknap Long
bibliography
One day, while they had been building a series of plasteel pillboxes, as a change from digging, one of the silicoidos came to life.
Skyrover in Startling Stories Winter 92/1 -
1955
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Frank Herbert
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What we need is a dielectric as tough as plasteel.
Under Pressure in Astounding Science Fiction Nov. 57/2
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1956
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Harlan Ellison
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There was a momentary silence, then the plasteel-armored guards fired at the spot.
Trojan Hearse in Infinity Science Fiction Aug. 101/1 -
1965
Frank Herbert
The shafts were about a meter and a half long with glistening plasteel hoods at one end, roughened at the other end for a firm grip.
in Analog Science Fiction/Fact Apr. 111/1
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1983
David Brin
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All of his dreams since the age of nine had dealt with ships. Ships, at first, of plasteel and jubber, sailing the straits and archipelagos of Calafia, and later ships of space.
Startide Rising 39
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1984
Anne McCaffrey
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Even a heavyworlder would have had to grunt to bash the sturdy plasteel frame and body skin.
Survivors: Dinosaur Planet II 41
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1990
Anne McCaffrey
Jody Lynn Nye
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I knew those struts were faulty. Trust Plasteel Corporation, the crew boss told us.
Death of Sleep (1992) 95
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1993
Harry Harrison
This stripped away the surface plastic that covered the far harder plasteel of the flexible saw inside.
Golden Years of Stainless Steel Rat in H. Harrison Stainless Steel Visions (1993) 246
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1999
Amy Thomson
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She looked down at the bland grey plasteel table.
Through Alien Eyes (2000) ii. 43
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2015
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Garth Nix
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Sprinkled between the domes were buildings of every possible style, from single-box prefab plasteel instahuts to six-story mansions of local phlegm-colored brick, abandoned ships repurposed as factories or dwellings, and the ever-popular yurts of local lizard-hide over steel frames that could be quickly moved if circumstances required it.
By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers in Old Venus 316
Research requirements
antedating 1942
Research History
Mike Christie submitted a 1965 cite from Frank Herbert's "The Prophet of Dune".Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a reprint of Harlan Ellison's "Run for the Stars"; Mike Christie verified the cite in a 1959 printing, and Guy Gordon subsequently verified the cite in the 1957 original magazine appearance.
Enoch Forrester submitted a 1983 cite from David Brin's "Startide Rising"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the first magazine appearance in 1981.
Katrina Campbell submitted a cite from a 1992 reprint of Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye's 1990 "The Death of Sleep".
Edward Bornstein submitted a 2002 cite from John Ringo's "When the Devil Dances".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a reprint of George R.R. Martin's "Loaves and Fishes", and Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1985 first magazine appearance.
Enoch Forrester located and James Sutherland confirmed a cite in an undated reprint of Anne McCaffrey's "Survivors: Dinosaur Planet II".
Cory Panshin submitted a 1974 cite from Alexei Panshin's "When the Vertical World Becomes Horizontal" in Universe 4.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1956 cite from Harlan Ellison's "Trojan Hearse".
Greg Tidwell submitted a cite from a 1976 reprint of Frank Herbert's "The Dragon in the Sea", which Mike Christie verified in its original publication (as the serial "Under Pressure, November 1955, Astounding Science Fiction).
Bill Mullins submitted a 1942 cite from the Canadian fanzine Censored.
Bill Mullins submitted a 1945 cite from Frank Belknap Long, in Startling Stories.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2015 cite from Garth Nix.
Last modified 2021-11-18 17:00:30
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entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.