cement

Definition

A powdered substance produced by firing (calcining) calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay that develops strong cohesive properties when mixed with water. The main ingredient of concrete.

Etymology

From Middle English syment, cyment, from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum (“quarry stone; stone chips for making mortar”), from caedō (“I cut, hew”). Doublet of cementum.

Example Sentences

• "In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time."
• "Indigenous bacteria, which naturally exist in specific environments, are being increasingly utilized in self-healing cement to promote calcite precipitation, a process that fills cracks and restores the material’s structural integrity [4,5]."
• "the cement of our love"

Related Words