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cement

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The definition of cement is anything that binds, particularly a substance made of burned lime, clay, sand and water to make mortar or sand, water and gravel to make concrete.

(noun)

An example of cement is the material used for a foundation of a house.

Cement means to join together or cover with a binding agent, particularly a substance made of burned lime, clay, sand and water.

(verb)

An example of cement is to fix a hole in the sidewalk.

See cement in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

1. a powdered substance made of burned lime and clay, mixed with water and sand to make mortar or with water, sand, and gravel to make concrete: the mixture hardens when it dries
2. concrete: a loose usage
any soft substance that fastens things together firmly when it hardens, as glue
anything that joins together or unites; bond
cementum
the fine-grained material that binds together the larger constituents in many kinds of sedimentary or clastic rock
Dentistry a cementlike substance used to fill cavities, set crowns, etc.
Metallurgy a dust or powder, as of charcoal or sand, or a finely divided metal, used in cementation

Origin: ME & OFr ciment < L caementum, rough stone, chippings < *caedimentum < caedere, to cut down: see -cide

transitive verb

to join or unite with or as with cement
to cover with cement

intransitive verb

to become cemented

Related Forms:

cementer noun

See cement in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. 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.
b. Portland cement.
c. Concrete.
A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue.
Something that serves to bind or unite: “Custom was in early days the cement of society” (Walter Bagehot).
Geology A chemically precipitated substance that binds particles of clastic rocks.
Dentistry A substance used for filling cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations.
Variant of cementum.