Plas"ter , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plastered (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Plastering.]
[Cf. OF. plastrer to plaster (in sense 2), F. plâtrer.]
1. To cover
with a plaster, as a
wound or sore.
2. To overlay or
cover with plaster, as the ceilings and walls of a house.
3. Fig.: To smooth over; to cover or conceal the defects of; to hide, as with a covering of plaster. Bale.
Plas"ter (?), n. [AS., a plaster
(in sense 1), fr. L. emplastrum, Gr. &?;, &?;, fr. &?; to daub on, stuff in; &?; in + &?; to mold: cf. OF. plastre a plaster (in
sense 2), F. plâtre.
Cf. Plastic, Emplaster, Piaster.]
[Formerly
written also plaister.] 1. (Med.)
An external application of a consistency harder than ointment, prepared for use by
spreading it on linen, leather, silk, or other material. It is adhesive at the ordinary temperature of the body, and
is used, according to its composition, to produce a medicinal effect, to bind parts together, etc.; as, a porous plaster; sticking plaster.
2. A composition of lime, water, and sand, with or
without hair as a bond, for coating walls, ceilings, and partitions of houses. See Mortar.
3. Calcined gypsum, or plaster of
Paris, especially when ground, as used for making ornaments, figures, moldings, etc.; or calcined gypsum used as a fertilizer.
Plaster cast, a copy of an object obtained by pouring plaster of Paris mixed with water into a
mold. -- Plaster of Paris. [So called because originally brought from a suburb of Paris.] (Chem.) Anhydrous calcium sulphate, or calcined gypsum, which forms with water a
paste which soon sets or hardens, and is used for
casts, moldings, etc. The term
is loosely applied to any plaster stone or species of
gypsum. -- Plaster
of Paris bandage (Surg.), a
bandage saturated with a paste
of plaster of Paris, which on drying forms a perfectly fitting splint. -- Plaster stone, any species of gypsum. See Gypsum.
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