Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine powder, which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used as an ingredient in making mortar or concrete.
  • noun Portland cement.
  • noun Concrete.
  • noun A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue.
  • noun Something that serves to bind or unite.
  • noun Geology A chemically precipitated substance that binds particles of clastic rocks.
  • noun Dentistry A substance used for filling cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations.
  • intransitive verb To bind with or as if with cement.
  • intransitive verb To cover or coat with cement.
  • intransitive verb To become cemented.
  • idiom (in cement) Firmly settled or determined; unalterable.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Any composition which at one temperature or one degree of moisture is plastic and at another is tenacious.
  • noun Specifically A kind of mortar which sets or hardens under water: hence often called hydraulic cement.
  • noun A name sometimes given by placer and hydraulic miners to any rather firmly compacted mass of detrital auriferous material.
  • noun In anatomy, the cortical substance which forms the outer crust of a tooth from the point where the enamel terminates to the apex of the root, resembling bone in anatomical structure and chemical composition. Also called cementum. See cut under tooth.
  • noun In zoology, a substance which cements or glues, as the secretion by which a barnacle adheres.
  • noun Figuratively, bond of union; that which firmly unites persons or interests.
  • noun A compound made of pitch, brick-dust, plaster of Paris, etc., used by chasers and other artificers to put under their work that it may lie solid and firm, for the better receiving of the impression made by the punches and other tools.
  • noun A cement for securing rubber rings or plates to metal or wood. It consists of a solution of shellac in ten times its own weight of strong ammonia, left for a considerable time to soften without heat. Also called caoutchouc cement.
  • To unite by cement, as by mortar which hardens, or by other matter that produces cohesion of bodies.
  • Figuratively, to unite morally or socially in close or firm union.
  • To unite or become solid; unite and cohere.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Any substance used for making bodies adhere to each other, as mortar, glue, etc.
  • noun A kind of calcined limestone, or a calcined mixture of clay and lime, for making mortar which will harden under water.
  • noun The powder used in cementation. See Cementation, n., 2.
  • noun Bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship, or men in society.
  • noun (Anat.) The layer of bone investing the root and neck of a tooth; -- called also cementum.
  • noun See under Hydraulic.
  • intransitive verb To become cemented or firmly united; to cohere.
  • transitive verb To unite or cause to adhere by means of a cement.
  • transitive verb To unite firmly or closely.
  • transitive verb To overlay or coat with cement.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable A powdered substance that develops strong adhesive properties when mixed with water.
  • noun uncountable The paste-like substance resulting from mixing such a powder with water.
  • noun uncountable Any material with strong adhesive properties.
  • noun countable A particular type or brand of cement.
  • verb To affix with cement.
  • verb figuratively To ensure an outcome.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a building material that is a powder made of a mixture of calcined limestone and clay; used with water and sand or gravel to make concrete and mortar
  • noun a specialized bony substance covering the root of a tooth
  • verb make fast as if with cement
  • noun concrete pavement is sometimes referred to as cement
  • verb cover or coat with cement
  • noun any of various materials used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth
  • noun something that hardens to act as adhesive material
  • verb bind or join with or as if with cement

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum, rough-cut stone, rubble used in making concrete, from caedere, to cut; see kaə-id- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin caementum ("quarry stone; stone chips for making mortar"), from caedo ("I cut, hew").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cement.

Examples

  • Kevin McHale was close -- the Boston Celtics forward once told me how complete his life would've been had he invented the phrase "cement pond" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" -- but McHale was a supporting player on teams led by Larry Bird, and, with Bird around, you couldn't get too antic.

    SI.com 2011

  • Kevin McHale was close -- the Boston Celtics forward once told me how complete his life would've been had he invented the phrase "cement pond" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" -- but McHale was a supporting player on teams led by Larry Bird, and, with Bird around, you couldn't get too antic.

    SI.com 2011

  • In addition, he also helped build thousands of mini check dams through what he called a cement scheme.

    Daily News & Analysis 2010

  • And, we had Ruby Ridge, Wacko, Oklahoma City, and now Austin, the anger is growing, the Left seems to believe that all things are set in cement, and we have reached a point were there can be no discussion.

    Matthew Yglesias » Straw Manned 2010

  • And, we had Ruby Ridge, Wacko, Oklahoma City, and now Austin, the anger is growing, the Left seems to believe that all things are set in cement, and we have reached a point were there can be no discussion.

    Matthew Yglesias » Straw Manned 2010

  • Everywhere certainty is set in cement and tolerance is banished from the mind.

    Stewart Nusbaumer: Lebanon, PA: Where Two Halves Collide Stewart Nusbaumer 2010

  • Everywhere certainty is set in cement and tolerance is banished from the mind.

    Stewart Nusbaumer: Lebanon, PA: Where Two Halves Collide Stewart Nusbaumer 2010

  • But we should build on Ecohuman's quotation above from St Cesar - Save 39th ave as it is, name the new soccer-only joint "Chavez Stadium" & cast the Chavez quote about risk/benefit allocation in cement above each portal into the place.

    Leave the Beavers -- move the Timbers? (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • The well was finally plugged, by drilling a relief well and pumping in cement, on 19th September.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • The well was finally plugged, by drilling a relief well and pumping in cement, on 19th September.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • As before the factory still stood in dust and desolation. But everyone could feel its breathing and the early vibration of its machinery. In the engine-room, the Diesels were already panting day and night. - Fedor Gladkov, A. S. Arthur, and C. Ashleigh, Cement, 1994, p. 252.

    March 5, 2011