Library / English Dictionary

PLASTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Adhesive tape used in dressing wounds

Synonyms:

adhesive plaster; plaster; sticking plaster

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("plaster" is a kind of...):

adhesive tape (tape coated with adhesive)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plaster"):

court plaster (a plaster composed of isinglass on silk; formerly used to dress superficial wounds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A surface of hardened plaster (as on a wall or ceiling)

Example:

there were cracks in the plaster

Synonyms:

plaster; plasterwork

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("plaster" is a kind of...):

surface (the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plaster"):

pargeting; pargetry; pargetting (ornamental plasterwork)

Derivation:

plaster (coat with plaster)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.

Synonyms:

cataplasm; plaster; poultice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("plaster" is a kind of...):

dressing; medical dressing (a cloth covering for a wound or sore)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plaster"):

mustard plaster; sinapism (a plaster containing powdered black mustard; applied to the skin as a counterirritant or rubefacient)

Derivation:

plaster (dress by covering with a therapeutic substance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("plaster" is a kind of...):

mixture ((chemistry) a substance consisting of two or more substances mixed together (not in fixed proportions and not with chemical bonding))

covering material (a material used by builders to cover surfaces)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plaster"):

finish coat; finishing coat (the final coating of (eg., paint, plaster, varnish, etc.))

grout (a thin mortar that can be poured and used to fill cracks in masonry or brickwork)

parget; pargeting; pargetting (plaster used to coat outer walls and line chimneys)

roughcast (a coarse plaster for the surface of external walls)

spackle; spackling compound (powder (containing gypsum plaster and glue) that when mixed with water forms a plastic paste used to fill cracks and holes in plaster)

stucco (a plaster now made mostly from Portland cement and sand and lime; applied while soft to cover exterior walls or surfaces)

Derivation:

plaster (coat with plaster)

plaster (apply a plaster cast to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Any of several gypsum cements; a white powder (a form of calcium sulphate) that forms a paste when mixed with water and hardens into a solid; used in making molds and sculptures and casts for broken limbs

Synonyms:

plaster; plaster of Paris

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("plaster" is a kind of...):

calcium sulfate; calcium sulphate (a white salt (CaSO4))

Meronyms (substance of "plaster"):

gypsum (a common white or colorless mineral (hydrated calcium sulphate) used to make cements and plasters (especially plaster of Paris))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plaster"):

gesso (gypsum or plaster of Paris spread on a surface to make it suitable for painting or gilding (or a surface so prepared))

Derivation:

plaster (apply a plaster cast to)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dress by covering with a therapeutic substance

Synonyms:

plaster; poultice

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "plaster" is one way to...):

dress (apply a bandage or medication to)

Domain category:

medicine; practice of medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he plaster his foot?

Derivation:

plaster (a medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.)

plastering (the application of plaster)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Coat with plaster

Example:

daub the wall

Synonyms:

daub; plaster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "plaster" is one way to...):

coat; surface (put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface)

Verb group:

daub (apply to a surface)

Domain category:

masonry (the craft of a mason)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plaster"):

render-set (cover with two coats of plaster)

parget (apply ornamental plaster to)

roughcast (apply roughcast to)

mud (plaster with mud)

mortar (plaster with mortar)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plaster (a surface of hardened plaster (as on a wall or ceiling))

plaster (a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings)

plasterer (a worker skilled in applying plaster)

plastering (the application of plaster)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Apply a heavy coat to

Synonyms:

plaster; plaster over; stick on

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "plaster" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

plastering (the application of plaster)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Apply a plaster cast to

Example:

plaster the broken arm

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "plaster" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plaster (a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings)

plaster (any of several gypsum cements; a white powder (a form of calcium sulphate) that forms a paste when mixed with water and hardens into a solid; used in making molds and sculptures and casts for broken limbs)

plastering (the application of plaster)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Affix conspicuously

Example:

She plastered warnings all over the wall

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "plaster" is one way to...):

affix; stick on (attach to)

Verb group:

beplaster; plaster (cover conspicuously or thickly, as by pasting something on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They plaster notices on the doors

Sense 6

Meaning:

Cover conspicuously or thickly, as by pasting something on

Example:

She let the walls of the apartment be beplastered with stucco

Synonyms:

beplaster; plaster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "plaster" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Verb group:

plaster (affix conspicuously)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something with something

Sentence example:

They plaster the doors with notices

Credits

 Context examples: 

"Will no one come?" it cried; and then, while the staggering and stamping went on wildly, I distinguished through plank and plaster:—Rochester!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Doctor Livesey patched it up with plaster and pulled my ears for me into the bargain.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My master had ordered a room to be made for me, after their manner, about six yards from the house: the sides and floors of which I plastered with clay, and covered with rush-mats of my own contriving.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Substance intended for external application made of such materials and of such consistency as to adhere to the skin and attach to a dressing; plasters are intended to afford protection and support and/or to furnish an occlusion and macerating action and to bring medication into close contact with the skin.

(Plaster Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Then came the day when the last bandage and the last plaster cast were taken off.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In an instant Beppo, a skilful workman, made a small hole in the wet plaster, dropped in the pearl, and with a few touches covered over the aperture once more.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He held up his candle, and there was a great, dark smudge upon the white plaster above us.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They also used different plasters on some walls, and smeared the surfaces with buttermilk or potato starch solutions to trigger moss and mould to grow.

(Smoother walls healthier for lungs, SciDev.Net)

These last words were in Greek, and at the same instant the man with a convulsive effort tore the plaster from his lips, and screaming out ‘Sophy!

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)