paste

[ peyst ]

/ peɪst /

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See synonyms for: paste / pasting on Thesaurus.com

noun

a mixture of flour and water, often with starch or the like, used for causing paper or other material to adhere to something.

any soft, smooth, and plastic material or preparation.

dough, especially when prepared with shortening, as for making pie crust and other pastry: puff paste.

any of various semisoft fruit confections of pliable consistency: almond paste; guava paste.

a preparation of fish, tomatoes, or other food reduced to a smooth, soft mass, as for a relish or for seasoning.

pasta.

a mixture of clay, water, etc., for making pottery or porcelain.

Jewelry.

a brilliant, heavy glass, as strass, used for making artificial gems.
an artificial gem of this material.

Slang. a hard smack, blow, or punch, especially on the face.

verb (used with object), past·ed, past·ing.

to fasten or stick with paste or the like.

to cover with something applied by means of paste.

Slang. to hit (a person) hard, especially on the face.

Computers. to insert (copied text, images, etc.) into a file.Compare copy (def. 15), cut (def. 25).

verb (used without object)

Computers. to insert copied text, images, etc., into a file.Compare cut (def. 42).

QUIZ

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.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

Words nearby paste

password, Passy, past, pasta, past continuous, paste, pasteboard, pastedown, pastel, pastelist, pastel orange

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

How to use paste in a sentence

Developed by Gelesis, a biotech company that makes treatments for gastro-intestinal disorders, Plentiy is a weight loss treatment that uses citric acid and cellulose to create a non-toxic paste that makes people feel more full after they ingest it.
Ro makes the weight loss product Plenity commercially available to everyone in the U.S.|Jonathan Shieber|October 1, 2020|TechCrunch
In addition to using it in recipes from Terri-Ann and other Caribbean and Caribbean-American YouTubers and food bloggers, I add the paste to fried rice, to tofu, to — you get it.
Until I Can Go Back to My Favorite Restaurant, This Jerk Paste Is the Next Best Thing|Elazar Sontag|September 25, 2020|Eater
Walkerswood Jamaican jerk seasoning has quickly become a kitchen stapleI smear the dark brown paste on everything.
Until I Can Go Back to My Favorite Restaurant, This Jerk Paste Is the Next Best Thing|Elazar Sontag|September 25, 2020|Eater
Stir in 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons oil to form a thick paste.
Turn a cheap chicken dinner into a Turkish street-food getaway|SAVEUR Editors|September 25, 2020|Popular-Science

The fluids and pastes inside that help create the current can catch on fire — with very dangerous results.
Let’s learn about batteries|Bethany Brookshire|August 14, 2020|Science News For Students
I ate the staple corn paste sadza every day and tasted fried mopane worms.
How I Got Addicted to Africa (and Wrote a Thriller About It)|Todd Moss|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The road salt makes a mushy, corrosive paste that is flung universally about the under-and over-sides of every vehicle.
Book Bag: Beguiling if Unlikely Travel Books|Sean Wilsey|September 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Labels will give you artist bios—with a quick copy and paste, you could provide that info to us, too!
25 Things I Want from an Online Music Service (and Almost Never Get)|Ted Gioia|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even when plausible deniability crumbles, the brainwashed paste it back together again.
This 1979 Novel Predicted Putin’s Invasion Of Crimea|Michael Weiss|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Headache—Take the rinds of a couple of lemons and squash it into a paste.
Use These 15 Home Remedies Based On Ayurveda To Cure Menstrual Cramps, Hangovers, and Indigestion|Ari Meisel|January 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The boy took a piece of wood and covered it with a paste made of ashes and oil.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
Starch is insoluble in cold water, but by boiling, it dissolves, forming a thick paste.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
It is to genuine politeness and good breeding, what the showy paste is to the pure diamond.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness|Florence Hartley
When this paste is laid over the skin, particularly where there are freckles, it makes it smooth and soft.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness|Florence Hartley
After pasting, it is a good plan to lay clean paper between the leaves until the paste is dry.
Harper's Young People, November 30, 1880|Various

British Dictionary definitions for paste (1 of 2)

paste¹

/ (peɪst) /

noun

a mixture or material of a soft or malleable consistency, such as toothpaste

an adhesive made from water and flour or starch, used esp for joining pieces of paper

a preparation of food, such as meat, that has been powdered to a creamy mass, for spreading on bread, crackers, etc

any of various sweet doughy confectionsalmond paste

dough, esp when prepared with shortening, as for making pastry

Also called: strass a hard shiny glass used for making imitation gems
an imitation gem made of this glass

the combined ingredients of porcelainSee also hard paste, soft paste

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

paste

Origin of paste

OTHER WORDS FROM paste

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH paste

Words nearby paste

Words related to paste

How to use paste in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for paste (1 of 2)

Word Origin for paste

British Dictionary definitions for paste (2 of 2)

Word Origin for paste