superglue

1 of 2

noun

su·​per·​glue ˈsü-pər-ˌglü 

variants or super glue or less commonly super-glue

plural superglues or super glues also super-glues

: a very strong glue : crazy glue

specifically : a glue whose chief ingredient is a cyanoacrylate that becomes adhesive through polymerization rather than evaporation of a solvent

superglue

2 of 2

verb

variants or less commonly super-glue or super glue

superglued also super-glued or super glued; supergluing or superglueing also super-gluing or super-glueing or super gluing or super glueing; superglues also super-glues or super glues

transitive verb

: to cause to stick tightly with or as if with a very strong adhesive : crazy-glue

… Miles Roby came downstairs to prepare for the breakfast shift and found a man slumped over the counter, his forehead flat on the Formica, as if it had been superglued there.

—Richard Russo

Polls show increasing support for clean energy, but most Republicans are superglued to the other side.

—Michael Grunwald

Examples of superglue in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Zenzal attaches the transmitters to hummingbirds’ backs using a tiny drop of superglue and a larger dab of eyelash glue, which is nontoxic and will eventually come off without hurting the birds. —Nala Rogers, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2019

Hopefully your first-aid kit has tweezers, because some of the alternatives—like superglue on a cotton swab—have the potential to go seriously wrong. —Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 15 Dec. 2022

When is putting superglue in someone's ear a good idea? —Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2014

Inside museums, the use of superglue slows the removal of activists by security – and gives them time to voice their protests to museum-goers recording them with smartphones. —George Petras, USA Today, 30 Nov. 2022

The women used superglue to attach themselves to poles holding up the skeleton of a large four-legged dinosaur that lived tens of millions of years ago. —Fortune, 31 Oct. 2022

There is no dignified way to squeeze a tiny bottle of superglue. —Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2022

On display: algae inks, crustacean superglue, yarn derived from squid DNA. —Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2022

To create the gripper, researchers tapped into the internal valves of the spiders' hydraulic chamber with a needle, sealed it with superglue and attached a handheld syringe to the other end of the needle. —Ariana Garcia, Chron, 3 Aug. 2022

Verb

Another trick that old-time cyclists showed me was to superglue a nonmagnetic ball bearing into the bolt head. —Matt Jancer, WIRED, 28 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Verb

derivative of superglue entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1937, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1958, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

superglue

noun

su·​per·​glue ˈsü-pər-ˌglü 

: a very strong glue

superglue verb

Medical Definition

superglue

noun

su·​per·​glue ˈsü-pər-ˌglü 

: a very strong glue

specifically : a glue whose chief ingredient is cyanoacrylate that becomes adhesive through polymerization rather than evaporation of a solvent