plaster
- 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.
- 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
Examples from the Web for plaster
Contemporary Examples
Once dried, a liquid, such as plaster, wax, or bronze, is poured in for a perfect representation of the face.
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 HorrorsNina Strochlic
July 10, 2014
Plaster and ceramic replicas of organs and appendages rest on the shelves alongside sets of false teeth.
As one story goes, Bianca Jagger, impressed, once made a plaster cast of Mara's posterior.
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.
Historical Examples
After it has swollen as much as it will, the plaster mould is made as before.
The minute they find out you're Irish, they'll plaster you with praise.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
If Enoch had not held his arm he would have torn off the plaster from his breast.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
But the marble statues they put into a kiln to make lime to plaster their houses.
Buried Cities, Part 2Jennie Hall
In that way they have made a plaster cast just the shape of the hole.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
plaster
- 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
- 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
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for plaster
n.
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.
v.
"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
(plăs′tər)- Plaster of Paris.
- A pastelike mixture applied to a part of the body for healing or cosmetic purposes.