paste

[ peyst ]

noun

1. a mixture of flour and water, often with starch or the like, used for causing paper or other material to adhere to something.
2. any soft, smooth, and plastic material or preparation.
3. dough, especially when prepared with shortening, as for making pie crust and other pastry:

   puff paste.

4. any of various semisoft fruit confections of pliable consistency:

   almond paste; guava paste.

5. a preparation of fish, tomatoes, or other food reduced to a smooth, soft mass, as for a relish or for seasoning.
6. pasta.
7. a mixture of clay, water, etc., for making pottery or porcelain.
8. Jewelry.
   1. a brilliant, heavy glass, as strass, used for making artificial gems.
   2. an artificial gem of this material.
9. Slang. a hard smack, blow, or punch, especially on the face.

verb (used with object)

, past·ed, past·ing.

1. to fasten or stick with paste or the like.
2. to cover with something applied by means of paste.
3. Slang. to hit (a person) hard, especially on the face.
4. Computers. to insert (copied text, images, etc.) into a file. Compare copy ( def 15 ), cut ( def 25 ).

verb (used without object)

1. Computers. to insert copied text, images, etc., into a file. Compare cut ( def 42 ).

paste

¹

/ peɪst /

verb

1. slang.
   tr to hit, esp with the fists; punch or beat soundly

paste

²

/ peɪst /

noun

1. a mixture or material of a soft or malleable consistency, such as toothpaste
2. an adhesive made from water and flour or starch, used esp for joining pieces of paper
3. a preparation of food, such as meat, that has been powdered to a creamy mass, for spreading on bread, crackers, etc
4. any of various sweet doughy confections

   almond paste

5. dough, esp when prepared with shortening, as for making pastry
6. 1. Also calledstrass a hard shiny glass used for making imitation gems
   2. an imitation gem made of this glass
7. See soft paste, hard paste
   the combined ingredients of porcelain See also hard paste soft paste

verb

1. often foll byon or onto to attach by or as if by using paste

   he pasted posters onto the wall

2. usually foll by with to cover (a surface) with paper, usually attached with an adhesive

   he pasted the wall with posters

Other Words From

• pre·paste verb (used with object) prepasted prepasting
• re·paste verb (used with object) repasted repasting
• semi·paste noun
• un·paste verb (used with object) unpasted unpasting

Word History and Origins

Origin of paste¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin pasta dough < Greek pastá barley porridge, noun use of neuter plural of pastós, verbid of pássein to strew, sprinkle; a pasta was originally a kind of gruel sprinkled with salt; paste ( defs 9, 12 ) probably by association with baste ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of paste¹

C19: variant of baste ³

Origin of paste²

C14: via Old French from Late Latin pasta dough, from Greek pastē barley porridge, from pastos, from passein to sprinkle

Example Sentences

I ate the staple corn paste sadza every day and tasted fried mopane worms.

From The Daily Beast

The road salt makes a mushy, corrosive paste that is flung universally about the under-and over-sides of every vehicle.

From The Daily Beast

Labels will give you artist bios—with a quick copy and paste, you could provide that info to us, too!

From The Daily Beast

Even when plausible deniability crumbles, the brainwashed paste it back together again.

From The Daily Beast

Headache—Take the rinds of a couple of lemons and squash it into a paste.

From The Daily Beast

The boy took a piece of wood and covered it with a paste made of ashes and oil.

From Project Gutenberg

Starch is insoluble in cold water, but by boiling, it dissolves, forming a thick paste.

From Project Gutenberg

It is to genuine politeness and good breeding, what the showy paste is to the pure diamond.

From Project Gutenberg

When this paste is laid over the skin, particularly where there are freckles, it makes it smooth and soft.

From Project Gutenberg

After pasting, it is a good plan to lay clean paper between the leaves until the paste is dry.

From Project Gutenberg