n.
- a soft mixture of lime with sand or cement and water for spreading on walls and ceilings to form a smooth hard surface when dried.
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(also plaster of Paris)
a hard white substance made by the addition of water to powdered gypsum, used for holding broken bones in place and making sculptures and casts.
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(also sticking plaster)
Brit. an adhesive strip of material for covering cuts and wounds.
▸dated a bandage on which a poultice is spread for application.
v.
- cover with plaster; apply plaster to.
- coat or cover all over with something, especially to an excessive extent:
a face plastered in heavy make-up.
▸display widely and conspicuously:
her story was plastered all over the papers.
- apply a plaster cast to.
- informal, dated bomb or shell (a target) heavily.
Derivative
- plasterer n.
- plastery adj.
Etymology
OE, denoting a bandage spread with a curative substance, from med. L. plastrum, from Gk emplastron ‘daub, salve’.