plaster

Archaic, plais·ter

[plas-ter, plah-ster]

noun

1. 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.

2. powdered gypsum.

3. plaster of Paris.

4. 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)

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

2. to treat with gypsum or plaster of Paris.

3. to lay flat like a layer of plaster.

4. to daub or fill with plaster or something similar.

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

6. to overspread with something, especially thickly or excessively.

   a wall plastered with posters.

7. Informal.

   1. to defeat decisively; trounce; drub.

   2. to knock down or injure, as by a blow or beating.

   3. to inflict serious damage or injury on by heavy bombing, shelling, or other means of attack.

plaster

/ ˈplɑːstə /

noun

1. 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

2. an adhesive strip of material, usually medicated, for dressing a cut, wound, etc

3. short for mustard plaster plaster of Paris

verb

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

2. (tr) to apply like plaster

   she plastered make-up on her face

3. (tr) to cause to lie flat or to adhere

4. (tr) to apply a plaster cast to

5. slang,  (tr) to strike or defeat with great force

Other Word Forms

• plasterer noun
• plasteriness noun
• plasterlike adjective
• plastery adjective
• replaster verb (used with object)
• unplaster verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaster¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of plaster¹

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

Example Sentences

Therrien’s beards — fashioned from synthetic hair, plaster, stainless steel or aluminum — hang on wardrobe stands from hooks that would go over the wearer’s ears as part of a costume.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She considers work in plaster, wood, stone and stucco.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Their moon-cast shadows formed lean shapes that stretched and folded, leaped and spun and skated across the cracked plaster.

Read more on Literature

But there's a reason the word "bioeconomy" is plastered all over the UN climate talks.

Read more on BBC

A 7 is 100 times more powerful than a 5, toppling furniture and shaking loose plaster and bricks in older buildings.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• adhesive 
• cement 
• glue 
• lime 
• mortar 
• stucco