gutta-percha

American  

[guht-uh-pur-chuh] / ˈgʌt əˈpɜr tʃə /

noun

1. the milky juice, nearly white when pure, of various Malaysian trees of the sapodilla family, especially Palaquium gutta.

2. the tough, rubberlike gum made from this and used as a dental cement, in the manufacture of golf balls, for insulating electric wires, etc.

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gutta-percha British  

/ ˈɡʌtəˈpɜːtʃə /

noun

1. any of several tropical trees of the sapotaceous genera Palaquium and Payena, esp Palaquium gutta

2. a whitish rubber substance derived from the coagulated milky latex of any of these trees: used in electrical insulation and dentistry

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Etymology

Origin of gutta-percha

1835–45; < Malay gətah (spelling getah ) tree sap + perca rag, strip of cloth; perhaps so called from the appearance of the sap ( Malay getah taban ) in its marketed form

Example Sentences

He was on the 352-yard ninth hole during a practice round Wednesday when his swing coach, Butch Harmon, gave him a replica of the gutta-percha golf ball used more than a century earlier.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 9, 2022

Demand for gutta-percha, an early bio-based resin used to insulate telegraph cables for the administration of the British Empire, led to widespread deforestation in Southeast Asia.

From Washington Post • Jan. 14, 2022

Now, if Fowler really wants to impress, he'll use a balata or gutta-percha ball for his next driving exhibition.

From Golf Digest • Jan. 13, 2017

The evening after Tom Watson’s British Open victory at Muirfield in 1980, North said, he, Watson and Ben Crenshaw walked out on the course with gutta-percha balls and wood-shafted clubs for a friendly competition.

From New York Times • Jul. 16, 2013

Sapotace�, sap-o-tā′sē-ē, n. a natural order of trees and shrubs, often abounding in milky juice, including the gutta-percha tree—one species yields the star-apple, another the Mammee-Sapota or American marmalade.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various