paste

[ peyst ]

/ peɪst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR paste 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 24).

verb (used without object)

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

Nearby words

past one's prime, past participle, past perfect, past progressive, pasta, paste, paste mold, paste-on, paste-up, pasteboard, pastedown

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

Related forms

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.

Can be confused

passed past paste

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for paste

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
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
I paste my walls with maps, drawings, lines of poetry, and sketch out a vague structure.
Ma Jian: How I Write|Noah Charney|June 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The regime does not paste over the clean windows of the upper class.
Gay Syrian Blogger a Hoax?|Asne Seierstad|June 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST

You should get a texture between a paste and a sauce (not too watery).
An Israeli Independence Day Menu|Naama Shefi|May 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST
They are friable in the hand, meagre to the touch, and difficultly form a paste with water.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
Proceed as directed for puff-paste, only the butter need not be washed, nor the paste placed upon the ice.
The National Cook Book, 9th ed.|Hannah Mary Peterson
Beat it well, and knead it quite smooth; roll the paste very thin, and cut it into biscuits.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,|Mary Eaton
The paste is a light red and the surface has received 314 a coat of bright red color.
Pottery of the ancient Pueblos. (1886 N 04 / 1882-1883 (pages 257-360))|William Henry Holmes
It is made into a paste with a little water, spirit of wine, or gin, before applying it.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for paste (1 of 2)

paste

/ (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)

paste

/ (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

Medicine definitions for paste

paste

[ pāst ]

n.

A smooth semisolid mixture, soft enough to flow slowly and not retain its shape.

paste

noun

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

verb (used without object)

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of paste

Related forms

Can be confused

Examples from the Web for paste

British Dictionary definitions for paste (1 of 2)

paste

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for paste

British Dictionary definitions for paste (2 of 2)

paste

verb

Word Origin for paste

Medicine definitions for paste

paste

n.