From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpolythenepol‧y‧thene /ˈpɒləθiːn $ ˈpɑː-/ noun [uncountable] British EnglishHCP a strong light plastic used to make bags, sheets for covering food, small containers etc SYN polyethylene American English
Examples from the Corpus
polythene• Chrissie passed Bodie a polythene snapper bag, then left the room again.• Opening a polythene bag or a can is the most we manage to do.• Piece of blue polythene sheeting used to carry coals also discovered close to scene of fire where human remains found.• Wrap with moss held in place with clear polythene tied either side with raffia or tape.• This, however, had the effect of dramatically expanding the market for polythene.• After location, chromatograms were kept refrigerated in polythene envelopes, and exposure was minimised during scanning.• The powder slipped unprotesting into the polythene bag, which he then quickly resealed.• The sheeting - you know, the polythene sounded like whips cracking when the wind got into it. 