glue
n. C / Un. a thick liquid that you use to stick things together. When it dries, it becomes hard and holds the pieces in place.
n. an adhesive substance used for joining surfaces together by surface attachment. Often refers to substances derived from natural proteins or synthetic polymers.
I used glue to fix the broken toy.
The children used sticks of purple glue to attach their drawings to the classroom wall.
While traditional woodworkers often prefer animal-based hide glue for its reversibility, modern construction projects typically rely on high-strength synthetic adhesives for permanent structural bonds.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue From Middle English glew, glue, from Old French glu (“glue, birdlime”), from Late Latin glūs (stem glūt-), from Latin glūten. Related to clay. Partially displaced native Old English līm (“glue”) and ġelīman (“to glue”) (whence modern lime).
Uncountable when referring to the substance in general; countable when referring to specific types or containers of the substance.