plaque
noun
Simple meaning
An accumulation of biofilm, or bacteria, on teeth, which may develop into dental calculus.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
plakIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈplæk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountabledentistry
An accumulation of biofilm, or bacteria, on teeth, which may develop into dental calculus (tartar).
pathology
A small abnormal patch on or inside the body
countableuncountablepathology
An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.
countableuncountablepathology
An accumulation in artery walls made up of macrophage cells and debris containing lipids, (cholesterol and fatty acids), calcium, and connective tissue; an atheroma.
countable
A piece of flat metal with writing on it, attached to a building, monument, or other structure to remind people of a person or an event.
countable
Any flat, thin piece of clay, ivory, metal, etc., used for ornament, or for painting pictures upon, as a dish, plate, slab, etc., hung upon a wall; also, a smaller decoration worn by a person, such as a brooch.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body
Used this way, plaque is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use plaque
- “The commemorative plaque honored the founder of the school.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A fatty deposit inside an arterial wall.
A plaque consisting of tangles of amyloid protein in nervous tissue (a pathological mark of Alzheimer's disease).
A film of mucus and bacteria deposited on the teeth that encourages the development of dental caries.
A film of mucus and bacteria deposited on the teeth that encourages the development of dental caries.
A plaque consisting of tangles of amyloid protein in nervous tissue (a pathological mark of Alzheimer's disease).
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.