# plaster

/ˈpɫæstɝ/ (US) · /plˈɑːstɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/plaster
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. wall coating

noun · CEFR B1

a soft mixture of sand, water, and lime that gets hard when it dries, used to make walls and ceilings smooth.

For teachers: a composition of lime or gypsum, sand, and water that hardens upon drying, used for coating internal walls and ceilings.

- The old plaster on the bedroom ceiling was starting to crack and fall off.
- The restoration team had to strip away layers of wallpaper to reach the original lime plaster, which required delicate repair work to preserve the ornate cornicing.

### 2. adhesive bandage

noun · CEFR B1 · British English

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

For teachers: 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.

Teaching tip: In American English, this is almost exclusively called a 'Band-Aid' or a 'bandage'.

### 3. medical cast

noun · CEFR B2

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

For teachers: 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.

### 4. to cover a surface

verb · CEFR B2

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

For teachers: 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.

## Examples

- The workers spread fresh plaster on the wall.
- After repairing the cracks, the painter applied a thin layer of plaster to smooth the surface.
- The restoration team carefully matched the original lime plaster to preserve the historic texture of the eighteenth-century manor house.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.