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tissue

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A soft thin paper.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

tisyoo

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtɪsju

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A sheet of absorbent paper, especially one that is made to be used as tissue paper, toilet paper or a handkerchief.

  2. A soft thin (usually translucent) paper

  3. Absorbent paper as material.

  4. biology

    A group of cells (along with their extracellular matrix if any) that are similar in origin and function together to do a specific job.

  5. A fine transparent silk material, used for veils, etc.; specifically, cloth interwoven with gold or silver threads, or embossed with figures.

  6. Thin, woven, gauze-like fabric.

verb

  1. To form tissue of; to interweave.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A sheet of absorbent paper, especially one that is made to be used as tissue paper, toilet paper or a handkerchief.

Used this way, tissue is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use tissue

  • “A tissue of forgeries, or of lies.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Sheet / absorbent

tissue paper

Cells

connective tissue

Soft

soft tissue

Other combinations

tissue culturescar tissuenervous tissuesubcutaneous tissuegranulation tissue

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • tissue layernounCompound term

    A pliable sheet of tissue that covers or lines or connects the organs or cells of animals or plants.

  • tissue papernounCompound term

    A soft thin (usually translucent) paper.

  • tissue plasminogen activatornounCompound term

    A thrombolytic agent (trade name Activase) that causes fibrinolysis at the site of a blood clot.

  • tissue typingnounCompound term

    A series of diagnostic tests before an organ transplant to determine whether the tissues of a donor and recipient are compatible.

  • animal tissuenounCompound term

    The tissue in the bodies of animals.

  • areolar tissuenounCompound term

    Fibrous connective tissue with the fibers arranged in a mesh or net.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: sheet of absorbent paper

tissue paper

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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.