mortar

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“
- the mortar is then laid on a plastic interface (already on the vibrating table) inside the screeding frame thanks to a mortar scoop.

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Definitions (26)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun A vessel in which substances are crushed or ground with a pestle.
  2. noun A machine in which materials are ground and blended or crushed.
  3. noun A portable, muzzleloading cannon used to fire shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high trajectories.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples

  • The recoil from a mortar is very heavy, necessitating the construction of a foundation called a mortar-bed which is not only solid but which possesses a certain amount of elasticity through which the shock of the recoil is absorbed. —  Abraham Lincoln
  • Stamped into the mortar were the unbroken seals of the royal necropolis. —  The Curse of the Pharaohs
  • If the mortar was his only enemy, he would have won easily. —  The Mad Ship
  • - the mortar is then laid on a plastic interface (already on the vibrating table) inside the screeding frame thanks to a mortar scoop. —  Chapter 12
  • \2O), which is what makes quicklime so useful as the binding agent in mortar, cement, and concrete. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XXIII No 4
 

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Mortar has been looked up 192 times, favorited 0 times, listed 18 times, and commented on twice.

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Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

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

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Formerly more properly morter, the spelling mortar being in modern imitation of the L.; from Middle English morter, from Anglo-Saxon mortere = Middle Low German mortēr, morter, Low German morter = Old High German mortāri, morsāri, Middle High German morsœre, morser, German mörser, Old High German also morsali, Middle High German morsel, German mörsel = Swedish mortel = Danish morter, a mortar (def. 1) = Old French mortier, a mortar, a kind of lamp, French mortier (later D. mortier) = Provencal mortier = Spanish mortero = Portuguese morteiro = Italian mortajo, a mortar (defs. 1 and 2), from Latin mortarium, a vessel in which substances are pounded with a pestle, hence a vessel in which mortar is made, mortar (see mortar); akin to marcus, diminutive marculus, martutns, a hammer, from √ mar, pound, grind: see mill, meal. Hence mortar.
  2. from mortar, n.
  3. Formerly more properly morter, the spelling mortar being in modern imitation of the L.; from Middle English morter, mortier, from Old French mortier, French mortier = Provencal mortier = Spanish mortero = Portuguese morteiro = Italian mortajo = Dutch mortel = Middle Low German morter, Middle High German mortere, morter, mortel, German mörtel, from Latin mortarium, mortar, a mixture of lime and sand, so called from the vessel in which it was made, a mortar: see mortar.
 

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/ˈmɔrtər/
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