pulpo-, pulp-, pulpi- +
(Latin: flesh, meat, fleshy parts of the body; fruit pulp; used mostly in reference to the tissue that exists in a tooth)
2. Soft or fleshy plant tissue; such as, the inner part of a fruit or vegetable.
3. The pith inside a plant stem.
4. A soft or soggy mass.
5. Pulverized animal or vegetable matter.
6. The sensitive tissue at the center of a tooth, consisting of nerves and blood vessels.
7. A mass of partly digested food passed from the stomach to the duodenum; chyme.
8. Crushed wood or other materials that are used to make paper.
9. Thrilling novels and magazines produced on cheap paper; especially, crime, horror, or science fiction stories: "He had a prize collection of classic pulp fiction."
10. Mining ore that has been mined and pulverized, especially when mixed with water.
In a post mortem report about the deaths of two Afghanistani prisoners at the Bagram, Afghanistan, prison (controlled by the U.S. military); a short autopsy report about one of the prisoners stated: "He had had some coronary artery disease", the medical examiner reported, but what caused his heart to fail was "blunt force injuries to the lower extremities".
One of the coroners later translated the assessment at a pre-trial hearing, saying the tissue in the young man's legs "had basically been pulpified. I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus," added the coroner.
The procedure was described as a "common peroneal strike" or a potentially disabling blow to the side of the leg, just above the knee. The U.S. interrogators did this so often to certain prisoners within a short period of time that they developed blood clots from the injuries and died. The tissue on their legs, and again, as the coroner described it, "had basically been pulpified."
Referring to two of the prisoners, it was reported that "Dilawar died from blunt force trauma to the lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease" and "Habibullah died of a pulmonary embolism apparently formed in his legs from the beatings". The tortures took place during January and February, 2004.
2. The study of diseases of the dental pulp and their condition following the occurrence of a preceding disease; also endodontics.
Root canal treatment is also known as endodontic therapy. Having a root canal generally involves treatment of the tooth's pulpal tissue (or nerve).
In addition to nerve fibers, the pulpal tissue also contains arteries, veins, lymph vessels, and connective tissue.
Root canals are often the most feared procedure by regular visitors to the dentist's office, although it is claimed to be, in most cases, a fairly uncomplicated and low-pain treatment.
2. The surgical removal of all or part of the coronal pulp of a tooth, leaving the radicular pulp.