mortar Hear it!

mortar Definition

mor·tar (môrt′ər)

noun

  1. a very hard bowl in which softer substances are ground or pounded to a powder with a pestle
  2. any machine in which materials are ground or pounded

  3. Etymology: Frmortier

    a short-barreled cannon with a low muzzle velocity, which hurls shells in a high trajectory
  4. any of various similar devices, for shooting lifelines, flares, etc.

  5. Etymology: ME morter < MFr mortier < L mortarium, a mixture of sand and lime: so called from the vessel in which it was made

    a mixture of cement or lime with sand and water, used between bricks or stones to bind them together in building, or as plaster

Etymology: ME mortere < OE mortere & OFr mortier, both < L mortarium, mixing vessel or trough < IE *mṛtos, pulverized < base *mer-, to rub: see morbid

transitive verb

  1. to plaster or bind together with mortar
  2. to attack with mortar shells

mortar Synonyms

mortar

n.

  1. A receptacle used with a pestle

    basin, pot, caldron; see bowl.

  2. A short-barreled cannon

    field gun, cannon, siege gun, howitzer, trench mortar, knee mortar, training mortar, stovepipe*; see also cannon, weapon 1.

mortar Usage Examples

Preposition: with

  • cement: Each barbecue contains approximately 10 sectional components ( of which only two require mortaring with the cement provided ).

Adjective modifier

  • lime: In some places the lime mortar was frankly just sand.
  • factory-produced: Question: How do factory-produced mortars differ from site mixed mortars?
  • 81mm: With a garrison of 200 men, the only offensive armament was the 81mm mortar.
  • lime-based: The whole structure was then repointed with lime-based mortar.
  • hydraulic: Hydraulic lime mortars should be used within a few hours of mixing.
  • haired: I can understand wanting to used haired plaster but haired mortar seems a bit odd.

Modifies a noun

  • platoon: The battalion mortar platoon leader provides effective coordination with the FSE on all mortar matters.
  • bomb: Then without any warning, a mortar bomb burst about ten yards in front of our section.
  • filet: Metal flashings and mortar filets are designed to divert water away from vulnerable areas.
  • shell: In January, Danish troops in southern Iraq discovered mortar shells they believed to contain a blister agent.
  • bedding: They also form channels to take away water that may penetrate the mortar bedding, which is not 100 percent waterproof.
  • barrage: Under cover of a mortar barrage the Irgun men began carving two tunnels through the buildings of Jaffa.

Preposition: between

  • brick: These lipid molecules join up and form a tough connecting network, in effect acting as the mortar between the bricks of a wall.

Noun used with modifier

  • spigot: The spigot mortar bases were allotted to the Home Guard.
  • thin-layer: Thin-layer mortar joints should be formed between 1mm and 3mm thick using the proprietary scoops available from the manufacturer.
  • ash/lime: All panels in east gable have been rebuilt with a hard gray ash/lime mortar.
  • cement: Pointing is sometimes carried out in cement mortar rather than the original lime mortar.
  • trench: We get very heavy gun and trench mortar fire, almost enough to drive us mad.
  • lime: In some places the original lime mortar was, frankly, just sand.
mortar Quotes

The Social Contract is nothing more or less than a vast conspiracy of human beings to lie to and humbug themselves and one another for the general Good. Lies are the mortar that bind the savage individual man into the social masonry.

—Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge)

A stately palace built of square'  d brick, Which cunningly was without mortar laid, Whose walls were high, but nothing strong, nor thick, And golden foil all over them displayed, That purest sky with brightness they dismayed.

—Spenser, Edmund