plaster

[ plas-ter, plah-ster ]

noun

1. a composition, as of lime or gypsum, sand, water, and sometimes hair or other fiber, applied in a pasty form to walls, ceilings, etc., and allowed to harden and dry.
2. powdered gypsum.
3. plaster of Paris.
4. a solid or semisolid preparation spread upon cloth, plastic, or other material and applied to the body, especially for some healing purpose.

verb (used with object)

1. to cover (walls, ceilings, etc.) with plaster.
2. to treat with gypsum or plaster of Paris.
3. to lay flat like a layer of plaster.
4. to daub or fill with plaster or something similar.
5. to apply a plaster to (the body, a wound, etc.).
6. to overspread with something, especially thickly or excessively:

   a wall plastered with posters.

7. Informal.
   1. to defeat decisively; trounce; drub.
   2. to knock down or injure, as by a blow or beating.
   3. to inflict serious damage or injury on by heavy bombing, shelling, or other means of attack.

plaster

/ ˈplɑːstə /

noun

1. a mixture of lime, sand, and water, sometimes stiffened with hair or other fibres, that is applied to the surface of a wall or ceiling as a soft paste that hardens when dry
2. an adhesive strip of material, usually medicated, for dressing a cut, wound, etc
3. short for mustard plaster plaster of Paris

verb

1. to coat (a wall, ceiling, etc) with plaster
2. tr to apply like plaster

   she plastered make-up on her face

3. tr to cause to lie flat or to adhere
4. tr to apply a plaster cast to
5. slang.
   tr to strike or defeat with great force

Derived Forms

• ˈplastery, adjective
• ˈplasterer, noun

Other Words From

• plaster·er noun
• plaster·i·ness noun
• plaster·like plaster·y adjective
• re·plaster verb (used with object)
• un·plaster verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaster¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English, from Medieval Latin plastrum “plaster” (both medical and building senses), aphetic variant of Latin emplastrum, from Greek émplastron “salve,” alteration of émplaston, neuter of émplastos “daubed”; em- ², -plast

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaster¹

Old English, from Medieval Latin plastrum medicinal salve, building plaster, via Latin from Greek emplastron curative dressing, from em- + plassein to form

Example Sentences

Biceps bulging out of a sleeveless shirt, sweaty scalp wrapped in a white bandana, plastered fingers on his left hand gripping a racquet.

From BBC

The green fossils are each wrapped in a plaster jacket and carefully loaded into a truck for the 700-mile drive to the museum at Exposition Park.

From Los Angeles Times

This past February, the Wyoming Active Club, a white supremacist organization, plastered stickers around Campbell County in the northeast part of the state that pictured mountain forests and said, “Preserve Nature, End Immigration.”

From Salon

Beyond the additional house chores, Krasinski said Blunt had joked about another way to celebrate his new title: plastering the walls of their Brooklyn home with his magazine cover.

From Los Angeles Times

The National Union of Students called it a "sticking plaster" for struggling universities, while Universities UK, which represents 140 institutions, said it was "the right thing to do".

From BBC

Related Words

• daub
• glue
• paste
• smudge