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mortar
1[ mawr-ter ]
noun
- a receptacle of hard material, having a bowl-shaped cavity in which substances are reduced to powder with a pestle.
- any of various mechanical appliances in which substances are pounded or ground.
- a cannon very short in proportion to its bore, for throwing shells at high angles.
- some similar contrivance, as for throwing pyrotechnic bombs or a lifeline.
verb (used with or without object)
- to attack with mortar fire or shells.
mortar
2[ mawr-ter ]
noun
- a mixture of lime or cement or a combination of both with sand and water, used as a bonding agent between bricks, stones, etc.
- any of various materials or compounds for bonding together bricks, stones, etc.:
Bitumen was used as a mortar.
verb (used with object)
- to plaster or fix with mortar.
mortar
/ ˈɔːə /
noun
- a mixture of cement or lime or both with sand and water, used as a bond between bricks or stones or as a covering on a wall
- a muzzle-loading cannon having a short barrel and relatively wide bore that fires low-velocity shells in high trajectories over a short range
- a similar device for firing lifelines, fireworks, etc
- a vessel, usually bowl-shaped, in which substances are pulverized with a pestle
- mining a cast-iron receptacle in which ore is crushed
verb
- to join (bricks or stones) or cover (a wall) with mortar
- to fire on with mortars
- dialect.to trample (on)
Other Word Forms
- ǰt· adjective
- ǰt· adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of mortar1
Word History and Origins
Origin of mortar1
Idioms and Phrases
see bricks and mortar .Example Sentences
Traditionally, pesto was made using a mortar and pestle, though a blender or food processor gets the job done just fine today.
One is part of a mortar from 1991, when the Provisional IRA attacked Number 10 Downing Street.
He adds the team spent time recreating the structures - which are constructed without the use of mortar - to "capture those local details".
Nonato laid his chisel against the mortar and gingerly began to tap the top of the tool with a hammer.
Making the traditional dough-like dish fufu, for example, is laborious and involves pounding cooked yams or cassava into a paste with a mortar.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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