plaster

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Medicine British English

n. a small piece of sticky material used to cover a minor cut on your skin.

n. a small, flexible adhesive strip used to protect minor wounds from infection and debris.

“I cut my finger while chopping onions, so I need to put a plaster on it.”

“The school nurse applied a waterproof plaster to the child's scraped knee before sending him back out to the playground.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Medicine

n. a hard white cover put around a broken bone to keep it still while it heals.

n. a rigid dressing, typically made of plaster of Paris or fibreglass, used to immobilise a fractured limb.

“He had to wear a plaster on his leg for six weeks after the skiing accident.”

“Once the swelling had subsided, the doctor replaced the temporary splint with a heavy plaster to ensure the bone remained perfectly aligned during the healing process.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to cover a surface with a thick layer of something, like posters or mud.

v. to cover a surface extensively or to coat something with a thick, often viscous, layer of a substance.

“The teenagers plastered their bedroom walls with posters of their favourite bands.”

“By the end of the election cycle, every available inch of the city's hoardings had been plastered with competing political advertisements.”