cement
Americannoun
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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.
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any of various soft, sticky substances that dry hard or stonelike, used especially for mending broken objects or for making things adhere.
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Petrography. the compact groundmass surrounding and binding together the fragments of clastic rocks.
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anything that binds or unites.
Time is the cement of friendship.
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Dentistry.
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a hardening, adhesive, plastic substance, used in the repair of teeth for anchoring fillings or inlays, for filling, or for fastening crowns.
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Informal. cementum.
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verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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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
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a binder, glue, or adhesive
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something that unites or joins; bond
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dentistry any of various materials used in filling teeth
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mineral matter, such as silica and calcite, that binds together particles of rock, bones, etc, to form a solid mass of sedimentary rock
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another word for cementum
verb
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to reinforce or consolidate
once a friendship is cemented it will last for life
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to join, bind, or glue together with or as if with cement
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to coat or cover with cement
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cementsimple
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cementssimple
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have cementedperfect
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has cementedperfect
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am cementingprogressive
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are cementingprogressive
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is cementingprogressive
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have been cementingperfect progressive
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has been cementingperfect progressive
Past
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cementedsimple
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had cementedperfect
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was cementingprogressive
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were cementingprogressive
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had been cementingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
Cement is a material that's used to build very strong, hard surfaces and structures. Cement is an ingredient in both mortar, which holds bricks together, and concrete, with which dams and roads and buildings are constructed. Cement begins as a powder made of clay and limestone, and after it's mixed with water and, often, sand, it's used to strengthen and bind things — as the mixture dries, it becomes hard and solid. A version of cement has been around since the third century BCE, in Mesopotamia. The word comes from the Latin root cæmenta, "stone chips for making mortar," from caedere, "to cut or chop."
Vocabulary lists containing cement
Black and Gray
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Engineering - Introductory
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Civil Engineering
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The fact is, only time can cement a true classic.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Around the village is the vast Kazakh steppe, stretching seemingly endlessly into a horizon broken only by the solitary tower of a cement plant.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
The probe targets companies including Cemex and Sika over chemicals used in cement, concrete and mortar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Goods targeted range from everyday consumer items like wine and hockey sticks to industrial goods such as commercial cement.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
I think about telling Benni I might want to be wet cement to fill the cracks in the sidewalk.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
This comes at a time when Beijing is polishing its image abroad as it cements its role as a global power.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
When a high number of people admire a luxury company, even if they can’t afford to own its goods, it cements its value as a status symbol.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The agreement sent to a judge late Friday cements a $530-million emergency hike in home insurance rates Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara negotiated with the insurer last summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2026
The win cements a remarkable resurgence for the Patriots.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
Epic in scope, violence, and imagination, Deathstorm is a new benchmark in the fantasy genre and cements forever G. M. Pennington’s status as the American Tolkien.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Regardless of what drove the company’s profit expansion, Alphabet has cemented itself as a major driver of S&P 500 earnings growth, according to a FactSet report released on Friday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
Some of the big winners cemented their status through bold recent investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
His death in battle there in the 7th Century cemented the schism between Shia and Sunnis.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Twenty-five years after “Legally Blonde” introduced Elle Woods to the world, she’s raised several generations of women and redeemed a terrible stereotype long cemented into American popular culture.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
It was that night that cemented our friendship.
From "Bunnicula" by Deborah Howe and James Howe
As the full-time whistle blew, cementing Spain's victory, the pair could be seen embracing on the pitch.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
And she did all this while cementing her legacy as one of the most influential and successful pop stars of all time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Most notably, Hunter agreed that he could not appeal the court’s ruling cementing his guilty verdict.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
In 2005, In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture arm, began investing in Palantir, cementing its link with the US national security universe.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Technically, they were still Witchlings until their circle was sealed, cementing them as a true coven.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
