Mortar
Mortar , noun
[Old English morter, Anglo-Saxon mortēre, Latin mortarium: compare French mortier mortar. Compare sense 2 (below), also 2d Mortar, Martel, Morter.]
1.
A strong vessel, commonly in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or rubbed with a pestle.
2.
(Military) A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45°, and even higher; -- so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.
Collocations (3)
Mortar bed (Military) , a framework of wood and iron, suitably hollowed out to receive the breech and trunnions of a mortar.
Mortar boat or Mortar vessel (Nautical) , a boat strongly built and adapted to carrying a mortar or mortars for bombarding; a bomb ketch.
Mortar piece , a mortar. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
Mortar , noun
[Old English mortier, French mortier, Latin mortarium mortar, a large basin or trough in which mortar is made, a mortar (in sense 1, above). See 1st Mortar.]
(Architecture) A building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials; -- used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also for plastering, and in other ways.
Collocations (1)
Mortar bed , a shallow box or receptacle in which mortar is mixed.
Mortar , transitive verb
To plaster or make fast with mortar.
Mortar , noun
[French mortier. See Mortar a vessel.]
A chamber lamp or light. [Obsolete] — Chaucer