Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Mortar

Mor′tar (môr′tẽr), n. [OE. morter, AS. mortēre, L. mortarium: cf. F. mortier mortar. Cf. sense 2 (below), also 2d Mortar, Martel, Morter.] 1. A strong vessel, commonly in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or rubbed with a pestle.

2. [F. mortier, fr. L. mortarium mortar (for trituarating).] (Mil.) A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45°, and even higher; — so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.

Mortar bed (Mil.), a framework of wood and iron, suitably hollowed out to receive the breech and trunnions of a mortar. — Mortar boat or vessel (Naut.), a boat strongly built and adapted to carrying a mortar or mortars for bombarding; a bomb ketch. — Mortar piece, a mortar. [Obs.] Shak.

Mor′tar, n. [OE. mortier, F. mortier, L. mortarium mortar, a large basin or trough in which mortar is made, a mortar (in sense 1, above). See 1st Mortar.] (Arch.) A building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials; — used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also for plastering, and in other ways.

Mortar bed, a shallow box or receptacle in which mortar is mixed. — Mortar board. (a) A small square board with a handle beneath, for holding mortar; a hawk. (b) A cap with a broad, projecting, square top; — worn by students in some colleges. [Slang]

Mor′tar, v. t. To plaster or make fast with mortar.

Mor′tar, n. [F. mortier. See Mortar a vessel.] A chamber lamp or light. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.