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| n. 1. 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. 2. A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue. 3. Something that serves to bind or unite: “Custom was in early days the cement of society” (Walter Bagehot). 4. Geology A chemically precipitated substance that binds particles of clastic rocks. 5. Dentistry A substance used for filling cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations. 6. Variant of cementum. v. ce·ment·ed, ce·ment·ing, ce·ments v. tr. 1. To join or cover with cement: The workers cemented bricks in the wall. 2. To make binding; establish or strengthen: Signing the contract cemented the partners' agreement. v. intr. Idiom: To become cemented. in cement Firmly settled or determined; unalterable: The administration's position on taxes was set in cement despite the unfavorable public response. [Middle English, from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum, rough-cut stone, rubble used in making concrete, from caedere, to cut; see kaə-id- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] ce·menter n. |
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