plas|ter

plas|ter «PLAS tuhr, PLAHS-», noun, verb.

–n.

1. a soft, sticky mixture, consisting mainly of lime, sand, and water, that hardens as it dries. Plaster is used especially for walls and ceilings. »

Ordinary plaster is very similar to mortar save that it usually contains hair or other fibers to help hold it in place (W. N. Jones).

SYNONYM(S): stucco.

2. = plaster of Paris. (Cf. ↑plaster of Paris)

3. a medical preparation, consisting of some substance spread on cloth that will stick to the body and protect cuts or relieve pain: »

a mustard plaster.

SYNONYM(S): poultice.

4. Figurative. a healing or soothing means or measure.

–v.t.

1. to cover (a wall or ceiling) with plaster.

2. to smear, bedaub, or fill in with plaster; apply plaster to.

3. to use plaster of Paris on or in making.

4. Figurative. to spread with anything thickly: »

His shoes were plastered with mud. Smee plastered his sitters with adulation as methodically as he covered his canvas (Thackeray).

5. Figurative. to make smooth and flat: »

He plastered his hair down.

SYNONYM(S): slick.

6. to apply a plaster to.

7. Figurative. to apply like a plaster: »

to plaster posters on a wall.

8. U.S. Slang. to punish, injure, or attack violently; wreak havoc, ruin, or destruction upon.

╂[noun (definition 1) < Old French plastre, learned borrowing from Medieval Latin plastrum a medical plaster, builder's plaster < Latin emplastrum < Greek émplastron, salve, plaster, ultimately < en- on + plastós molded < plássein to mold; noun (definition 3) Old English plaster < Medieval Latin plastrum. See etym. of doublet piaster. (Cf. ↑piaster)]

–plas´ter|like´, adjective.