plaster

[plas-ter, plah-ster]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR plaster ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a composition, as of lime or gypsum, sand, water, and sometimes hair or other fiber, applied in a pasty form to walls, ceilings, etc., and allowed to harden and dry.

powdered gypsum.

plaster of Paris.

a solid or semisolid preparation spread upon cloth, plastic, or other material and applied to the body, especially for some healing purpose.

verb (used with object)

to cover (walls, ceilings, etc.) with plaster.

to treat with gypsum or plaster of Paris.

to lay flat like a layer of plaster.

to daub or fill with plaster or something similar.

to apply a plaster to (the body, a wound, etc.).

to overspread with something, especially thickly or excessively: a wall plastered with posters.

Informal.

to defeat decisively; trounce; drub.
to knock down or injure, as by a blow or beating.
to inflict serious damage or injury on by heavy bombing, shelling, or other means of attack.

Origin of plaster

before 1000; Middle English, Old English < Medieval Latin plastrum plaster (both medical and building senses), aphetic variant of Latin emplastrum < Greek émplastron salve, alteration of émplaston, neuter of émplastos daubed; see em-², -plast

Related formsplas·ter·er, nounplas·ter·i·ness, nounplas·ter·like, plas·ter·y, adjectivere·plas·ter, verb (used with object)un·plas·ter, verb (used with object)

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

Related Words for plaster

adhesive, cement, glue, mortar, stucco, lime, daub, paste, smudge, coat, binding, gum, dressing, mucilage, gypsum, overlay, cover, adhere, bedaub, bind

Examples from the Web for plaster

Contemporary Examples of plaster

Once dried, a liquid, such as plaster, wax, or bronze, is poured in for a perfect representation of the face.
The Ukrainian Face Collector Launches an Exhibition in Kiev
Nina Strochlic
August 21, 2014
Her face was cast into a plaster mold, preserving her shy smile for posterity.
Brooklyn’s Museum of Death: Inside Morbid Anatomy’s House of Intriguing Horrors
Nina Strochlic
July 10, 2014
Plaster and ceramic replicas of organs and appendages rest on the shelves alongside sets of false teeth.
The Sacrificial Limbs of New Orleans
Nina Strochlic
March 12, 2014
As one story goes, Bianca Jagger, impressed, once made a plaster cast of Mara's posterior.
The Stacks: Harold Conrad Was Many Things, But He Was Never, Ever Dull
Mark Jacobson
March 8, 2014
We have a lock of his hair, a few photos, and plaster footprints, along with the tiny blue urn we chose when we had him cremated.
Daily Beast Readers React to YouTube Stillborn Baby Memorials
Brandy Zadrozny
November 12, 2013

Historical Examples of plaster

After it has swollen as much as it will, the plaster mould is made as before.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884
Various
The minute they find out you're Irish, they'll plaster you with praise.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
If Enoch had not held his arm he would have torn off the plaster from his breast.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
But the marble statues they put into a kiln to make lime to plaster their houses.
Buried Cities, Part 2
Jennie Hall
In that way they have made a plaster cast just the shape of the hole.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, Mycenae
Jennie Hall

British Dictionary definitions for plaster

plaster

noun

a mixture of lime, sand, and water, sometimes stiffened with hair or other fibres, that is applied to the surface of a wall or ceiling as a soft paste that hardens when dry

British, Australian and NZ an adhesive strip of material, usually medicated, for dressing a cut, wound, etc

short for mustard plaster, plaster of Paris

verb

to coat (a wall, ceiling, etc) with plaster

(tr) to apply like plastershe plastered make-up on her face

(tr) to cause to lie flat or to adhere

(tr) to apply a plaster cast to

(tr) slang to strike or defeat with great force

Derived Formsplasterer, nounplastery, adjective

Word Origin for plaster

Old English, from Medieval Latin plastrum medicinal salve, building plaster, via Latin from Greek emplastron curative dressing, from em- + plassein to form

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

Word Origin and History for plaster

late Old English plaster "medicinal application," from Vulgar Latin plastrum, shortened from Latin emplastrum "a plaster" (in the medical as well as the building sense), from Greek emplastron "salve, plaster" (used by Galen instead of more usual emplaston), noun use of neuter of emplastos "daubed on," from en- "on" + plastos "molded," from plassein "to mold" (see plasma). The building construction material is first recorded in English c.1300, via Old French plastre, from the same source, and in early use the English word often had the French spelling.

"to coat with plaster," early 14c., from plaster (n.) and partly Old French plastrier "to cover with plaster" (Modern French plâtrer), from plastre (see plaster (n.). Related: Plastered; plastering. Figurative use from c.1600. Meaning "to bomb (a target) heavily" is first recorded 1915. Sports sense of "to defeat decisively" is from 1919.

plaster in Medicine

plaster

[plăs′tər]

n.

Plaster of Paris.

A pastelike mixture applied to a part of the body for healing or cosmetic purposes.