cement
[si-ment]
- any of various calcined mixtures of clay and limestone, usually mixed with water and sand, gravel, etc., to form concrete, that are used as a building material.
- any of various soft, sticky substances that dry hard or stonelike, used especially for mending broken objects or for making things adhere.
- Petrography. the compact groundmass surrounding and binding together the fragments of clastic rocks.
- anything that binds or unites: Time is the cement of friendship.
- Dentistry.
- a hardening, adhesive, plastic substance, used in the repair of teeth for anchoring fillings or inlays, for filling, or for fastening crowns.
- Informal.cementum.
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- to unite by or as if by cement: to cement stones to form a wall; to cement a relationship.
- to coat or cover with cement: to cement a floor.
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- to become cemented; join together or unite; cohere.
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Origin of cement
1250–1300; < Latin cēmentum, variant of caementum (singular of caementa unprocessed cuttings from the quarry, i.e., rough stone and chips) < *caed-mentom, equivalent to caed(ere) to cut + -mentum -ment; replacing Middle English cyment < Old French ciment < Latin, as above
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cement on Thesaurus.com6. merge, join, bind, fuse, secure.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cement
Contemporary Examples
He was pinned to the cement for his refusal to go along with an arrest for selling loose cigarettes.
The Wildly Peaceful, Human, Almost Boring, Ultimately Great New York City Protests for Eric GarnerMike Barnicle
December 8, 2014
Holding the architectural smorgasbord of a castle together was cement, wire, and mortar.
And to check out this 100-year-old steel and cement engineering marvel.
Death waits for these things as a cement floor waits for a dropping light bulb.
And what Navfac calls “standard airfield concrete” is military-grade, made with aggregate and Portland cement.
Historical Examples
As the boy ran off, K.'s eye fell on what he had written on the cement.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
Then there was a clattering on the cement floor as of a million arrows.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
The streets of the towns were narrow, but were often paved with a sort of cement.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
Broken china may be repaired with cement, made of equal parts of glue, the white of an egg, and white-lead mixed together.
The plaster or cement coating is intact, and the inscription is plain.
cement
- a fine grey powder made of a mixture of calcined limestone and clay, used with water and sand to make mortar, or with water, sand, and aggregate, to make concrete
- a binder, glue, or adhesive
- something that unites or joins; bond
- dentistry any of various materials used in filling teeth
- mineral matter, such as silica and calcite, that binds together particles of rock, bones, etc, to form a solid mass of sedimentary rock
- another word for cementum
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- to reinforce or consolidateonce a friendship is cemented it will last for life
- to join, bind, or glue together with or as if with cement
- to coat or cover with cement
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum stone from the quarry, from caedere to hew
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cement
n.
c.1300, from Old French ciment "cement, mortar, pitch," from Latin cæmenta "stone chips used for making mortar" (singular caementum), from caedere "to cut down, chop, beat, hew, fell, slay" (see -cide). The sense evolution from "small broken stones" to "powdered stones used in construction" took place before the word reached English.
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v.
c.1400, from cement (n.) or Old French cimenter. Figurative use from c.1600. Related: Cemented; cementing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cement
(sĭ-mĕnt′)- A substance used for filling dental cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations.
- cementum
- A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.