glue

plural glues

1. countableuncountableA hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.

   Near-synonyms: adhesive, cement

   2 more examples

   The wasp has always made the paper from which it constructs its nest, by uniting vegetable fibres with glue, while man was vexing himself with attempts to write on the bark of trees or a waxen or metallic table.

   1832 July 28, “Review: Habits of Insects”, in North American Review, volume 35, number 76, →JSTOR, page 217

   During the next few days, while the meat dried, they were both busy. They finished the bowl boat and coated it with the glue Jondalar made by boiling down the hooves, bone, and hide scraps.

   1990, Jean Marie Auel, chapter 9, in The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children), New York: Random House, published 2010, →ISBN, page 145

   Synonyms: adhesive, cement

2. countablefigurativelyuncountableAnything that binds two things or people together.

   What is a kiss ? Why this, as some approve, / The sure sweet cement, glue, and lime of love.

   1648, Robert Herrick, “A Kiss”, in Hesperides, London: H. G. Bohn, published 1852, page 159

   2 more examples

   In other words, the railways are the glue which holds the country together for those without cars, and for those of us who want to get between major cities sustainably and rapidly. The railways are not a 'nice to have extra', but a key component of our infrastructure.

   2022 December 28, Christian Wolmar, “Annus horribilus must mark a turning point for our railway”, in RAIL, number 973, page 45

   A lot of people who salted for us didn’t come from those same circumstances, so they don’t understand how Black and brown organizing is really going to intertwine with the type of ideology that they have. And I had to try to be the glue to figure all of it out.

   2026 June 2, Alex Skopic, Chris Smalls, “Chris Smalls Is Still Fighting the Bosses”, in Current Affairs

3. countableuncountablebiologyA viscid secretion on the surface of certain plants.

present singular third person glues · participle present gluing · participle present uncommon glueing · participle past glued · past glued

1. transitiveTo join or attach something using glue.

   I need to glue the chair-leg back into place.

   1 more example

   […] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew.

   2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 23 Dec 2014

2. figurativelytransitiveTo cause something to adhere closely to; to cause to follow attentively.

   His eyes were glued to the screen.

   3 more examples

   So as I lay on the ground with my ear glued close against the wall, who should march round the church but John Trenchard, Esquire, not treading delicately like King Agag, or spying, but just come on a voyage of discovery for himself.

   [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC

   Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

   1961 May 9, Newton N. Minow, Television and the Public Interest

   If, like me, you have been confined to your home, glued to the news and nursing ever greater anxiety about the state of the world, you have probably become familiar with the sight of the World Health Organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and his daily press briefings.

   2020 April 10, Stephen Buranyi, “The WHO v coronavirus: why it can't handle the pandemic”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: adhere, cling, stick, adhere, attach, bond, cleave, cling

3. intransitiveTo apply glue.

   Children need help in understanding such things as how to control a paintbrush, how to cut efficiently, how to glue with care and dexterity, and even how to manage a sponge during a cleanup task.

   1994, Sylvia G. Feinburg, Mary Mindess, Eliciting Children's Full Potential: Designing & Evaluating Developmentally Based Programs for Young Children, Pacific Grove, C.A.: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 123

   1 more example

   "This is how the whiskers went, I think. Cut long strips of paper—I'm just using a second paper bag here—and run the flat edge of the scissors down the strip to make it curl. Voilà. Then glue each whisker, like so, next to the nose, four on a side." She was watching. I glued quickly so I wouldn't lose her.

   1987, Josephine Humphreys, Rich in Love, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, page 236