plaster
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (5)
- a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilingsType of mixture, covering materialKinds stucco, finish coat, grout, spackle, parget, roughcast
- 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 limbsSynonyms: plaster of ParisType of calcium sulphate, calcium sulfateKinds gessoMade of gypsum
- 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.Synonyms: poulticecataplasmType of dressing, medical dressingKinds mustard plaster, sinapism
- a surface of hardened plaster (as on a wall or ceiling)“there were cracks in the plaster”Synonyms: plasterworkType of surfaceKinds pargeting, pargetting
- adhesive tape used in dressing woundsSynonyms: adhesive plastersticking plasterType of adhesive tapeKinds court plaster
Verb (6)plastered, plastering
- apply a heavy coat toSynonyms: plaster overstick onMore general cover
- cover conspicuously or thickly, as by pasting something on“The demonstrators plastered the hallways with posters”“She let the walls of the apartment be beplastered with stucco”Synonyms: beplasterMore general cover
- affix conspicuously“She plastered warnings all over the wall”More general affix, stick onSimilar beplaster
- apply a plaster cast to“plaster the broken arm”More general cover
- coat with plaster“daub the wall”Synonyms: daubMore general coat, surfaceMore specific mortar, mud, parget, roughcast, render-setSimilar daub
- dress by covering with a therapeutic substanceSynonyms: poulticeMore general dress
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: AS., a plaster (in sense 1), fr. L. emplastrum, Gr. …, …, fr. … to daub on, stuff in; … in + … to mold: cf. OF. plastre a plaster (in sense 2), F. plâtre. Cf. Plastic, Emplaster, Piaster.
1. Medicine An external application of a consistency harder than ointment, prepared for use by spreading it on linen, leather, silk, or other material. It is adhesive at the ordinary temperature of the body, and is used, according to its composition, to produce a medicinal effect, to bind parts together, etc.; as, a porous plaster; sticking plaster.
2. A composition of lime, water, and sand, with or without hair as a bond, for coating walls, ceilings, and partitions of houses. See Mortar.
3. Calcined gypsum, or plaster of Paris, especially when ground, as used for making ornaments, figures, moldings, etc.; or calcined gypsum used as a fertilizer.
Plaster cast, a copy of an object obtained by pouring plaster of Paris mixed with water into a mold. — Plaster of Paris. Chemistry Anhydrous calcium sulphate, or calcined gypsum, which forms with water a paste which soon sets or hardens, and is used for casts, moldings, etc. The term is loosely applied to any plaster stone or species of gypsum. — Plaster of Paris bandage Surgery, a bandage saturated with a paste of plaster of Paris, which on drying forms a perfectly fitting splint. — Plaster stone, any species of gypsum. See Gypsum.
Origin: Cf. OF. plastrer to plaster (in sense 2), F. plâtrer.
1. To cover with a plaster, as a wound or sore.
2. To overlay or cover with plaster, as the ceilings and walls of a house.
3. Fig.: To smooth over; to cover or conceal the defects of; to hide, as with a covering of plaster. John Bale
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54