mortar
1a receptacle of hard material, having a bowl-shaped cavity in which substances are reduced to powder with a pestle.
any of various mechanical appliances in which substances are pounded or ground.
a cannon very short in proportion to its bore, for throwing shells at high angles.
some similar contrivance, as for throwing pyrotechnic bombs or a lifeline.
to attack with mortar fire or shells.
Origin of mortar
1Other definitions for mortar (2 of 2)
a mixture of lime or cement or a combination of both with sand and water, used as a bonding agent between bricks, stones, etc.
any of various materials or compounds for bonding together bricks, stones, etc.: Bitumen was used as a mortar.
to plaster or fix with mortar.
Origin of mortar
2Other words from mortar
- mor·tar·less, adjective
- mor·tar·y, adjective
Words that may be confused with mortar
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mortar in a sentence
Running on power from a generator, it is constantly mortared and is a frequent target of airstrikes.
The building they suddenly came upon had tongues of moss licking twenty to fifty feet up the loosely mortared stones.
The Jewels of Aptor | Samuel R. DelanyFor the first twenty-five neither window nor grating broke the grim uniformity of those mighty walls of mortared rock.
Joan of the Sword Hand | S(amuel) R(utherford) CrockettIts walls are composed of rough limestone blocks mortared together.
The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras | Thomas William Francis GannThis wall was built of finely squared blocks of limestone mortared together, and was somewhat more than 18 inches thick.
The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras | Thomas William Francis Gann
In many cases the blocks are mortared together, and in nearly all cases layers of cement are alternated with layers of stone.
The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras | Thomas William Francis Gann
British Dictionary definitions for mortar
/ (ˈmɔːtə) /
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
a muzzle-loading cannon having a short barrel and relatively wide bore that fires low-velocity shells in high trajectories over a short range
a similar device for firing lifelines, fireworks, etc
a vessel, usually bowl-shaped, in which substances are pulverized with a pestle
mining a cast-iron receptacle in which ore is crushed
to join (bricks or stones) or cover (a wall) with mortar
to fire on with mortars
Midland English dialect to trample (on)
Origin of mortar
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with mortar
see bricks and mortar.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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