ce|ment

ce|ment «suh MEHNT», noun, verb.

–n.

1. a) a fine, gray powder made by burning a mixture of clay and limestone: »

Cement is, in essence, a mixture of the silicates and aluminates of calcium, and is one of the most important of the modern-day silicon-bearing products (W. N. Jones).

b) this substance mixed with water, sand, and gravel or crushed stone to form concrete, used to make sidewalks, streets, floors, and walls. c) this substance mixed with water, sand, and lime to form mortar, used to hold stones and bricks together in the walls of buildings. Cement is applied in a soft state and becomes hard like stone.

2. anything applied soft that hardens to make things stick together. See also rubber cement. (Cf. ↑rubber cement)

3. Figurative. anything that joins together or unites: »

Custom was in the early days the cement of society (Walter Bagehot).

SYNONYM(S): bond.

4. a) a substance used to fill cavities in teeth or to fasten fillings into them. b) = cementum. (Cf. ↑cementum)

5. Metallurgy. the powdery substance used during cementation.

6. Geology. the groundmass of a clastic rock.

–v.t.

1. to fasten together with cement: »

A broken plate can be cemented.

2. to spread cement over: »

The workmen were cementing the sidewalk.

3. Figurative. to join firmly; unite: »

The marriage of my son to their daughter cemented the friendship of our two families.

–v.i.

to become joined firmly with cement; stick: »

Figurative. They will…cement and form one mass with us (Thomas Jefferson).

SYNONYM(S): cohere.

╂[< Old French ciment < Vulgar Latin cīmentum, for Latin caementum stone chippings < caedere to cut]

–ce|ment´er, noun.

–ce|ment´like´, adjective.