glue
Americannoun
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a hard, impure, protein gelatin, obtained by boiling skins, hoofs, and other animal substances in water, that when melted or diluted is a strong adhesive.
-
any of various solutions or preparations of this substance, used as an adhesive.
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any of various other solutions or preparations that can be used as adhesives.
verb (used with object)
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glues,
present (3rd person singular)
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glued,
past participle, past
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gluing
present participle
noun
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any natural or synthetic adhesive, esp a sticky gelatinous substance prepared by boiling animal products such as bones, skin, and horns
-
any other sticky or adhesive substance
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gluesimple
-
gluessimple
-
have gluedperfect
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has gluedperfect
-
am gluingprogressive
-
are gluingprogressive
-
is gluingprogressive
-
have been gluingperfect progressive
-
has been gluingperfect progressive
Past
-
gluedsimple
-
had gluedperfect
-
was gluingprogressive
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were gluingprogressive
-
had been gluingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glue
1300–50; (noun) Middle English glu, gleu < Old French glu < Latin glūt- (stem of glūs ); cognate with Greek gloiós gum, anything sticky; (v.) Middle English glywen, glewen, derivative of the noun
Explanation
Glue is a liquid adhesive, used to stick two items together. A little kid may use Elmer's glue to decorate an art project, and you may use Krazy Glue to repair a mug's broken handle. Whatever the case, you hope the glue sticks. Most glue comes in a squeeze bottle and is used in small drips and lines to paste one material to another, but some glue comes in solid sticks that aren't as messy. When you stick one thing to another with glue, you glue it. The Old French source of glue is glu, from the Latin gluten, which means both "glue" and "beeswax."
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:
“It can itch as my skin adjusts to the glue or when sweat builds up under it,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
"What Kevin does, is he can bind and glue communities together by being that leader. The more Kevs we have in this country the better."
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
"No amount of glue in any publisher's factory could ever hold this," she told Cooper.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
The molecular glue form of degraders were discovered serendipitously.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
It was like being caught in a glue trap, as Molly picked her way between sweaty, shouty students.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Nvidia glues everything together with software called CUDA, short for “compute unified device architecture.”
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
When counterfeiters make fake versions—phony name-brand sneakers, for instance—they don’t use the same materials, glues, dyes and paints that the legitimate manufacturer does.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
"These often have added chemicals, flavourings, stabilisers and glues, are often lacking many real nutrients and could have a detrimental effect on someone's health," she said.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
But despite its water-sensitive glues and exposed hydraulics, the seahorse completed its route intact.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2026
“It glues a whole formation of planes together in mid-air.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Here’s what you might have missed if you were glued to midterm-related news this week:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Meanwhile Piker—still glued to his computer chair—is settling scores.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
Having optimism is tough these days, especially for people glued to their algorithms and, of course, watching too much news.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
The final of Celebrity Traitors will air on BBC One at 20:00 GMT, and while many people will be glued to their sofas, venues across the region are hosting dedicated watch parties.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Sam and Eddie glued themselves to her side.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
“How much can we add to it? How much can we get away with gluing onto this thing?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, launched two tins of tomato soup on to the painting at the National Gallery in central London, later gluing their hands to the wall beneath it.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
Other recent protests have involved activists blocking highway traffic in various parts of Italy, and gluing hands of activists to the protective glass of a Botticelli painting in the Uffizi Gallery.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
Together with the team, he analyzed it by first cutting a very thin slice about 50 micrometers thick and then gluing it onto glass.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2023
The movie played on and then finished and then ran its credits, went to black screen, clicked off, rewound, started playing automatically again; I kept on gluing.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
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