mortar

¹

[ mawr-ter ]

noun

1. a receptacle of hard material, having a bowl-shaped cavity in which substances are reduced to powder with a pestle.
2. any of various mechanical appliances in which substances are pounded or ground.
3. a cannon very short in proportion to its bore, for throwing shells at high angles.
4. some similar contrivance, as for throwing pyrotechnic bombs or a lifeline.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to attack with mortar fire or shells.

mortar

²

[ mawr-ter ]

noun

1. a mixture of lime or cement or a combination of both with sand and water, used as a bonding agent between bricks, stones, etc.
2. any of various materials or compounds for bonding together bricks, stones, etc.:

   Bitumen was used as a mortar.

verb (used with object)

1. to plaster or fix with mortar.

mortar

/ ˈmɔːtə /

noun

1. a mixture of cement or lime or both with sand and water, used as a bond between bricks or stones or as a covering on a wall
2. a muzzle-loading cannon having a short barrel and relatively wide bore that fires low-velocity shells in high trajectories over a short range
3. a similar device for firing lifelines, fireworks, etc
4. a vessel, usually bowl-shaped, in which substances are pulverized with a pestle
5. mining a cast-iron receptacle in which ore is crushed

verb

1. to join (bricks or stones) or cover (a wall) with mortar
2. to fire on with mortars
3. dialect.
   to trample (on)

Other Words From

• mortar·less adjective
• mortar·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mortar¹

before 1000; Middle English, Old English mortere and Old French mortier < Latin mortārium; mortar ¹( defs 3, 4 ) translation of French mortier < Latin, as above; -ar ²

Origin of mortar²

1250–1300; Middle English morter < Anglo-French; Old French mortier mortar ¹, hence the mixture produced in it

Word History and Origins

Origin of mortar¹

C13: from Latin mortārium basin in which mortar is mixed; in some senses, via Old French mortier substance mixed inside such a vessel

Idioms and Phrases

see bricks and mortar .

Example Sentences

With the pandemic closing or limiting access to brick and mortar stores, personalization has taken a new urgency as customers are increasingly shopping online and companies need to meet them where they are.

From TechCrunch

Immediately transfer to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, and grind to a medium-coarse powder.

From Popular-Science

If you don’t have a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, you can swap in 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin and 1 teaspoon ground coriander for the spice mix.

From Popular-Science

I used to teach out of a brick and mortar adult shop, but like so many small businesses during the pandemic, the shop closed.

From Washington Blade

For brick and mortar businesses, Google reviews is the primary platform for working with customer feedback.

From Search Engine Watch

Of such incompatibles is compounded the mortar of his art work.

From The Daily Beast

Then came the day Mustafa, along with two others, was killed by a mortar shell.

From The Daily Beast

Artillery and mortar duels all around the outskirts of Donetsk rumble angrily every day.

From The Daily Beast

When Louise and Bibi returned to their home, they found it strewn with ammunition and pockmarked with mortar craters.

From The Daily Beast

Holding the architectural smorgasbord of a castle together was cement, wire, and mortar.

From The Daily Beast

There, if his eyes did not deceive him, were evidences of mortar dislodged by nefarious toes.

From Project Gutenberg

But the fury of the dabblers in bricks and mortar continues unabated, and they will not last long.

From Project Gutenberg

The Purbeck marble slab has never been disturbed, being found strongly secured by mortar to the top of the stone coffin.

From Project Gutenberg

In the absence of a mortar, a basin plunged into another containing boiling water will answer the purpose.

From Project Gutenberg

Get, at a druggist's, half an ounce of each of these articles, and have them mixed and pounded together in a mortar.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• seal