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View synonyms for plaster

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. 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
“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


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
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈplastery, adjective
  • ˈplasterer, noun
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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)
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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
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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
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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.

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

“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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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