Definition

1. Noun:

   • A medical dressing: A soft, often heated, mixture spread on cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflammation or improve circulation.
   • A building material: A mixture, typically of lime or gypsum with sand and water, that hardens into a smooth solid and is used to coat walls and ceilings.
   • The hardened surface: The smooth, solid layer formed by this material on a wall or ceiling.
   • A sculpting/casting material: A white powder (a form of calcium sulphate/gypsum cement) that forms a paste with water and hardens, used for making molds, sculptures, and casts for broken limbs.

2. Verb:

   • To apply a coating: To cover a surface (like a wall) with plaster.
   • To apply a medical dressing: To treat by covering with a therapeutic substance.
   • To apply a cast: To immobilize a broken limb with a plaster cast.
   • To cover conspicuously: To affix or spread something over a surface in a very noticeable or thick manner.
   • To apply heavily: To put a heavy coat of something onto a surface.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The nurse applied a warm plaster to his sore back.
  • We need to buy bags of plaster to repair the wall.
  • There was an old crack in the plaster above the door.
  • The artist used plaster to make a mold of the sculpture.

• Verb:

  • They decided to plaster the old brick wall to make it smooth.
  • The doctor will plaster the wound to prevent infection.
  • After the fracture, they had to plaster his leg.
  • Protesters plastered the building with flyers and posters.
  • He plastered butter thickly on his toast.

Advanced Usage

• "To be plastered" (informal idiom): To be very drunk.

  • After three beers, he was completely plastered.

• "Plaster over": To cover something (like a problem or a crack) superficially, often as a temporary or inadequate fix.

  • They just plastered over the cracks instead of fixing the structural issue.

Variants and Related Words

• Plastered (adj): 1. Covered with plaster. 2. (Slang) Very drunk.
• Plasterer (n): A person whose job is to apply plaster to walls.
• Plasterboard (n): A board made of plaster core between paper sheets, used for walls and ceilings.
• Plaster cast (n): A rigid dressing of gauze and plaster used to immobilize a broken bone.

Synonyms

• Noun (building material): Stucco, render, mortar.
• Noun (dressing): Bandage, dressing, compress.
• Verb (to cover): Daub, smear, coat, spread.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Plaster over: To cover a surface or a flaw with plaster; to conceal something hastily.
  • We need to plaster over these holes before painting.
• Plaster with/on: To apply or stick something to a surface in abundance.
  • Her desk was plastered with sticky notes.

Related Idioms

• Plaster a smile on one's face: To force oneself to smile, often hiding one's true feelings.
  • Even though she was upset, she plastered a smile on her face for the guests.

Noun

1. adhesive tape used in dressing wounds
2. a surface of hardened plaster (as on a wall or ceiling)
   • there were cracks in the plaster
3. a medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.
4. any of several gypsum cements; a white powder (a form of calcium sulphate) that forms a paste when mixed with water and hardens into a solid; used in making molds and sculptures and casts for broken limbs
5. a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings

Verb

1. dress by covering with a therapeutic substance
2. coat with plaster
   • daub the wall
3. apply a plaster cast to
   • plaster the broken arm
4. affix conspicuously
   • She plastered warnings all over the wall
5. cover conspicuously or thickly, as by pasting something on
   • The demonstrators plastered the hallways with posters
   • She let the walls of the apartment be beplastered with stucco
6. apply a heavy coat to