plaster

[ 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

Derived Forms

• ˈplastery, adjective
• ˈplasterer, noun

Other Words From

• plaster·er noun
• plaster·i·ness noun
• plaster·like plaster·y adjective
• re·plaster verb (used with object)
• un·plaster 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

The remains were so fragile, our team had to cover them in plaster and remove them intact with the block of sediment in which they were buried.

From Singularity Hub 

Investigators excavated the entire pit in 2017 and covered it in plaster for transport to the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi.

From Science News

“There’s a massive opportunity, in terms of the impact on working mothers in particular — this could potentially be really good in the longer term, as we’ve now ripped the plaster off around flexible working,” she said.

From Digiday

By making plaster casts of those impressions, archaeologists could see details like facial expressions and even the folds and pleats of clothing.

From Ars Technica

Then they used plaster mixed with other materials to cast the other 130 stones.

From Science News For Students

While chipping away plaster from his kitchen wall, the Guatemalan man unearthed a series of centuries-old Mayan murals.

From The Daily Beast

Death masks are made from a cast of layered plaster strips laid on the face soon after death.

From The Daily Beast

Once dried, a liquid, such as plaster, wax, or bronze, is poured in for a perfect representation of the face.

From The Daily Beast

We crossed a stream into a village of timbered white plaster houses, some with pretty wrought-iron balconies.

From The Daily Beast

Her face was cast into a plaster mold, preserving her shy smile for posterity.

From The Daily Beast

He laid it upon the floor, and took out a plaster mask, and brushing and blowing off the saw-dust, held it up.

From Project Gutenberg

“It is a perfect identification,” murmured Mr. Arden, with his eyes still riveted on the plaster faces.

From Project Gutenberg

Now Isaias had ordered that they should take a lump of figs, and lay it as a plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed.

From Project Gutenberg

The plaster will show on the ground whether the sowing is being done evenly.

From Project Gutenberg

A pint of meal and a pint of plaster to each rod, is a good mixture to sow in.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• daub
• glue
• paste
• smudge