plaster of Paris

or plaster of paris


noun
  1. calcined gypsum in white, powdery form, used as a base for gypsum plasters, as an additive of lime plasters, and as a material for making fine and ornamental casts: characterized by its ability to set rapidly when mixed with water.

Origin of plaster of Paris

1
1375–1425; late Middle English; so called because prepared from the gypsum of Paris, France

Words Nearby plaster of Paris

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use plaster of Paris in a sentence

  • Mix plaster-of-Paris into a stiff paste with distilled water, and fill each of the cork moulds with the paste.

  • Bronzing is that process by which figures of plaster-of-paris, wood, &c. are made to have the appearance of copper or brass.

  • Disinfecting agents are good remedies; a little plaster-of-Paris spread over a stable-floor is very useful.

    Soil Culture | J. H. Walden
  • The keeper there says I am a wonderful shot—I hit a plaster-of-Paris rabbit seven times in succession!

  • And I'll have to get all my art at second-hand, from magazines and gramophone records and plaster-of-Paris casts.

    The Prairie Wife | Arthur Stringer

British Dictionary definitions for plaster of Paris

plaster of Paris

noun
  1. a white powder that sets to a hard solid when mixed with water, used for making sculptures and casts, as an additive for lime plasters, and for making casts for setting broken limbs. It is usually the hemihydrate of calcium sulphate, 2CaSO 4 .H 2 O

  2. the hard plaster produced when this powder is mixed with water: a fully hydrated form of calcium sulphate

Origin of plaster of Paris

1
C15: from Medieval Latin plastrum parisiense, originally made from the gypsum of Paris
  • Sometimes shortened to: plaster

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

Scientific definitions for plaster of Paris

plaster of Paris

[ plăstər ]


  1. A form of calcium phosphate derived from gypsum. It is mixed with water to make casts and molds.

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