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paste

[ peyst ]
/ peɪst /
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See synonyms for: paste / pasting on Thesaurus.com

noun
verb (used with object), past·ed, past·ing.
verb (used without object)
Computers. to insert copied text, images, etc., into a file.Compare cut (def. 42).
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THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of paste

1350–1400; Middle English <Middle French <Late Latin pasta dough <Greek pastá barley porridge, noun use of neuter plural of pastós, verbid of pássein to strew, sprinkle; a pasta was originally a kind of gruel sprinkled with salt; (defs. 9, 12) probably by association with baste3

OTHER WORDS FROM paste

pre·paste, verb (used with object), pre·past·ed, pre·past·ing.re·paste, verb (used with object), re·past·ed, re·past·ing.sem·i·paste, nounun·paste, verb (used with object), un·past·ed, un·past·ing.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH paste

passed, past, paste
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use paste in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for paste (1 of 2)

paste1
/ (peɪst) /

noun
verb (tr)
(often foll by on or onto) to attach by or as if by using pastehe pasted posters onto the wall
(usually foll by with) to cover (a surface) with paper, usually attached with an adhesivehe pasted the wall with posters

Word Origin for paste

C14: via Old French from Late Latin pasta dough, from Greek pastē barley porridge, from pastos, from passein to sprinkle

British Dictionary definitions for paste (2 of 2)

paste2
/ (peɪst) /

verb
(tr) slang to hit, esp with the fists; punch or beat soundly

Word Origin for paste

C19: variant of baste ³
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
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