mortar

- 14 dictionary results

mor⋅tar

1 [mawr-ter]

–noun

1.	a receptacle of hard material, having a bowl-shaped cavity in which substances are reduced to powder with a pestle.

2.	any of various mechanical appliances in which substances are pounded or ground.

3.	a cannon very short in proportion to its bore, for throwing shells at high angles.

4.	some similar contrivance, as for throwing pyrotechnic bombs or a lifeline.

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

5.	to attack with mortar fire or shells.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE mortere and OF mortier < L mortārium; in defs. 3, 4 trans. of F mortier < L, as above; see -ar ²

mor⋅tar

2 [mawr-ter]

–noun

1.	a mixture of lime or cement or a combination of both with sand and water, used as a bonding agent between bricks, stones, etc.

2.	any of various materials or compounds for bonding together bricks, stones, etc.: Bitumen was used as a mortar.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to plaster or fix with mortar.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME morter < AF; OF mortier mortar ¹ , hence the mixture produced in it

Related forms:

mor⋅tar⋅less, adjective

mor⋅tar⋅y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To mortar

mor·tar (môr'tər)

A vessel in which substances are crushed or ground with a pestle.
A machine in which materials are ground and blended or crushed.
1. A portable, muzzleloading cannon used to fire shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high trajectories.
2. Any of several similar devices, such as one that shoots life lines across a stretch of water.
Any of various bonding materials used in masonry, surfacing, and plastering, especially a plastic mixture of cement or lime, sand, and water that hardens in place and is used to bind together bricks or stones.

tr.v. mor·tared, mor·tar·ing, mor·tars

To bombard with mortar shells.
To plaster or join with mortar.

[Middle English morter, from Old English mortere and from Old French mortier, both from Latin mortārium; see mer- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mortar

Mor"tar\, n. [OE. morter, AS. mort[=e]re, L. mortarium: cf. F. mortier mortar. Cf. sense 2 (below), also 2d Mortar, Martel, Morter.]

1. A strong vessel, commonly in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or rubbed with a pestle.

2. [F. mortier, fr. L. mortarium mortar (for trituarating).] (Mil.) A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45[deg], and even higher; -- so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.

Mortar bed (Mil.), a framework of wood and iron, suitably hollowed out to receive the breech and trunnions of a mortar.

Mortar boat or vessel (Naut.), a boat strongly built and adapted to carrying a mortar or mortars for bombarding; a bomb ketch.

Mortar piece, a mortar. [Obs.] --Shak.

Mortar

Mor"tar\, n. [OE. mortier, F. mortier, L. mortarium mortar, a large basin or trough in which mortar is made, a mortar (in sense 1, above). See 1st Mortar.] (Arch.) A building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials; -- used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also for plastering, and in other ways.

Mortar bed, a shallow box or receptacle in which mortar is mixed.

Mortar board. (a) A small square board with a handle beneath, for holding mortar; a hawk. (b) A cap with a broad, projecting, square top; -- worn by students in some colleges. [Slang]

Mortar

Mor"tar\, v. t. To plaster or make fast with mortar.

Mortar

Mor"tar\, n. [F. mortier. See Mortar a vessel.] A chamber lamp or light. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : mortar

Spanish: mortero, argamasa,

German: der Mörtel,

Japanese: モルタル

More Translations »

mortar (1)

"mixture of cement," c.1290, from O.Fr. mortier, from L. mortarium "mortar," also "crushed drugs," probably the same word as mortarium "bowl for mixing or pounding" (see mortar (2)). Mortarboard "academic cap" (1854) so called because it resembles a mason's square board for carrying mortar.

mortar (2)

"bowl for pounding," c.1300, from O.Fr. mortier, from L. mortarium "bowl for mixing or pounding," also "material prepared in it," of unknown origin and impossible now to determine which sense was original. O.E. had mortere, from the same L. source.

mortar (3)

"short cannon," 1558, originally mortar-piece, from M.Fr. mortier "short cannon," from O.Fr. "bowl for mixing or pounding" (see mortar (2)). So called for its shape.

Main Entry: mor·tar
Pronunciation: 'mort-&r
Function: noun
: a strong vessel in which material is pounded or rubbed with a pestle

mortar mor·tar (môr'tər)
n.

A vessel in which drugs or other substances are crushed or ground with a pestle.
A machine in which materials are ground and blended or crushed.

Mortar

(Heb. homer), cement of lime and sand (Gen. 11:3; Ex. 1:14); also potter's clay (Isa. 41:25; Nah. 3:14). Also Heb. 'aphar, usually rendered "dust," clay or mud used for cement in building (Lev. 14:42, 45). Mortar for pulverizing (Prov. 27:22) grain or other substances by means of a pestle instead of a mill. Mortars were used in the wilderness for pounding the manna (Num. 11:8). It is commonly used in Palestine at the present day to pound wheat, from which the Arabs make a favourite dish called kibby.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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mortar

see bricks and mortar.

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