plaster
pronunciation
How to pronounce plaster in British English:
UK [ˈplɑːstə(r)]
How to pronounce plaster in American English:
US [ˈplæstər]
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- Noun:
- a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings
- any of several gypsum cements; a white powder (a form of calcium sulphate) that forms a paste when mixed with water and hardens into a solid; used in making molds and sculptures and casts for broken limbs
- a medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.
- a hardened surface of plaster (as on a wall or ceiling)
- adhesive tape used in dressing wounds
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- Verb:
- cover conspicuously, as by pasting something on
- affix conspicuously
- apply a plaster cast to
- apply a heavy coat to
- coat with plaster
- dress by covering with a therapeutic substance
Word Origin
- plaster
- plaster: [OE] Like plastic, plaster comes ultimately from the Greek verb plássein ‘mould’. Combination with the prefix en- ‘in’ produced emplássein ‘daub on, plaster’. From its past participle emplastós was derived émplastron ‘medicinal application to the skin’, which reached Latin as emplastrum. Medieval Latin shortened it to plastrum, which Old English adopted as plaster. Its use for a ‘soft substance spread on walls, etc’ was introduced via Old French plastre in the 14th century.=> plastic
- plaster (n.)
- late Old English plaster "medicinal application," from Vulgar Latin plastrum, shortened from Latin emplastrum "a plaster" (in the medical as well as the building sense), from Greek emplastron "salve, plaster" (used by Galen instead of more usual emplaston), noun use of neuter of emplastos "daubed on," from en- "on" + plastos "molded," from plassein "to mold" (see plasma). The building construction material is first recorded in English c. 1300, via Old French plastre, from the same source, and in early use the English word often had the French spelling.
- plaster (v.)
- "to coat with plaster," early 14c., from plaster (n.) and partly Old French plastrier "to cover with plaster" (Modern French plâtrer), from plastre (see plaster (n.). Related: Plastered; plastering. Figurative use from c. 1600. Meaning "to bomb (a target) heavily" is first recorded 1915. Sports sense of "to defeat decisively" is from 1919.
Example
- 1. Period furniture : the house has some stunning original features including hand moulded plaster work
- 2. Another week , another sticking plaster .
- 3. Posters plaster freetown , the capital of sierra leone .
- 4. After examining the dinosaur at a local lab , the scientists encased it and the remaining surrounding soil in plaster and hauled it by truck to a boeing research center in canoga park , california , north of los angeles .
- 5. Mr clich had obtained plaster casts of the moulds for the biddenden cakes and studied them thoroughly .