English
cement
see also: Cement
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /səˈmɛnt/
  • (US South) IPA: /ˈsimɛnt/
Noun

cement

  1. (countable, uncountable) A powdered substance produced by firing (calcining) calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay that develops strong cohesive properties when mixed with water. The main ingredient of concrete.
  2. (uncountable) The paste-like substance resulting from mixing such a powder with water, or the rock-like substance that forms when it dries.
  3. (uncountable) Any material with strong adhesive and cohesive properties such as binding agents, glues, grout.
  4. (figurative) A bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship or in society.
    the cement of our love
  5. (anatomy) The layer of bone investing the root and neck of a tooth; cementum.
Translations Translations Translations Verb

cement (cements, present participle cementing; past and past participle cemented)

  1. (transitive) To affix with cement.
  2. (transitive) To overlay or coat with cement.
    to cement a cellar floor
  3. (transitive, figurative) To unite firmly or closely.
    • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene 1,
      For they have entertained cause enough
      To draw their swords: but how the fear of us
      May cement their divisions and bind up
      The petty difference, we yet not know.
    • 1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103 ↗:
      Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.
  4. (figuratively) To make permanent.
Translations Translations
Cement
Proper noun
  1. A town in Oklahoma.


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