glue

play

noun \ ˈglü \

Definition of glue

1 a :any of various strong adhesive substances; especially :a hard protein chiefly gelatinous substance that absorbs water to form a viscous solution with strong adhesive properties and that is obtained by cooking down collagenous materials (such as hides or bones)

b :a solution of glue used for sticking things together

2 :something that binds together

enough social glue … to satisfy the human desire for community
—E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

—

gluey

play \ˈglü-ē\ adjective

—

gluily

play \ˈglü-ə-lē\ adverb

See glue defined for English-language learners

See glue defined for kids

Examples of glue in a Sentence

The hardware store offers several different glues.
used glue to stick the photo in the album

Recent Examples of glue from the Web

For seven seasons, Ellis gave the show a magical spark, creating in Lafayette a smart, wry, endlessly watchable character who became True Blood’s glue.

— vanityfair.com, "Why Nelsan Ellis Made True Blood Worth Watching," 10 July 2017
Tear off tiny stars from a strand of star tinsel and place a small dot of eyelash glue on the back.

— brooke shunatona, Cosmopolitan, "11 Halloween Looks You Can Create With Makeup You Already Have," 30 June 2017
The storefront smells of fresh leather, glue and rubber, circulated into a mixture by the small industrial fan above the door.

— mark curnutte, Cincinnati.com, "Sole mates: Syrian refugee bonds with survivor of Jim Crow South in shoe repair shop," 26 June 2017
That’s because scientists have created a new kind of glue that can bond hard and soft substances to hydrogels, Jello-like materials used in everything from medical devices to soft robots.

— zahra ahmad, Science | AAAS, "New ‘superglue’ could seal the deal for stretchable batteries, soft robots," 23 June 2017
The strongest glue holding liberal democracies together, Luce argues, is economic growth, and when that growth stalls or falls, things tend to take a dark turn.

— michiko kakutani, New York Times, "In ‘The Retreat of Western Liberalism,’ How Democracy Is Defeating Itself," 19 June 2017
Lace the colored ribbon through the lace (or glue together).

— kristin koch, Seventeen, "10 DIY Dorm Decor Hacks That Even Lazy Girls Can Do," 19 June 2017
My father was the glue that connected me to my entire family, and every member of my family to one another.

— paulinemercedes, Longreads, "My Father’s Weakness for Beer Never Lessened His Strengths," 16 June 2017
Severe pain is glue in the memory, and loosens its grip very slowly.

— fred dickey, sandiegouniontribune.com, "‘I have nothing in this world. I have suffered enough.'," 3 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'glue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of glue

Middle English glu, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin glut-, glus; akin to Latin gluten glue — more at clay

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

glue Synonyms

Synonyms

adhesive, bond, cement, size

Related Words

epoxy, epoxy resin, library paste, mucilage, paste, superglue, water glass; dope, goo, gum

glue

verb

Definition of glue

glued; gluing also glueing

transitive verb

1 :to cause to stick tightly with or as if with glue

gluing the parts together

used that war to glue together a frail story
—Gloria Emerson

2 :to cause to remain continuously or to be fixed steadily —usually used with to

the spectators were glued to their seats

all eyes glued to the TV screen

See glue defined for English-language learners

Examples of glue in a Sentence

I glued the pieces of the cup back together.

Recent Examples of glue from the Web

John Kelly, his new chief of staff, winced and kept his eyes glued to those marble floors as the president spoke.

— emily jane fox, vanityfair.com, "The Myth of Jared and Ivanka Meets Charlottesville," 16 Aug. 2017
For Facebook, like YouTube, video provides a way to keep your eyeballs glued to your screen and its app.

— hayley tsukayama, chicagotribune.com, "Making sense of Facebook's new video platform, Watch," 12 Aug. 2017
Step 6: Form a horn on the end of the tube by gluing on a reducing coupling.

— matt woods, Popular Mechanics, "How to Make Underground Speaking Tubes," 2 Aug. 2017
For 50 of the 100 laps, Baker and Majeski ran 1-2 virtually glued together.

— tony baranek, Daily Southtown, "Ricky Baker holds his ground in wild ARCA Wayne Carter Classic victory," 16 July 2017
Like, you should not be glued to gender, to age, to race; those things should not define you.

— Harper's BAZAAR, "Miley Cyrus' Summer of Love," 13 July 2017
While the rest of America watched fireworks and ate BBQ, the citizens of Startup Land spent the July 4th holiday weekend glued to their phones as push notifications about the industry's sexual harassment reckoning rolled in.

— erin griffith, Fortune, "Beyond Pledges and Tweets: How Can Venture Capital Fix Its Sexual Harassment Problem?," 5 July 2017
The Mini felt glued to the corners and seemed likely to go through rubber in a relatively short period of time.

— charles fleming, Detroit Free Press, "Review: 2017 Mini John Cooper Works Clubman ALL4 is a quaint mini, souped up," 5 July 2017
They were glued to mobile phones this weekend, talking to families on Facebook and WhatsApp, which were unknown to most of the fighters before this year.

— nicholas casey and joe parkin daniels, New York Times, "‘Goodbye, Weapons!’ FARC Disarmament in Colombia Signals New Era," 27 June 2017

First Known Use of glue

14th century

GLUE Defined for English Language Learners

glue

play

noun

Definition of glue for English Language Learners

: a substance used to stick things tightly together

glue

verb

Definition of glue for English Language Learners

: to make (something) stick to something else by using glue
: to stay in one place because of interest, shock, excitement, etc.

GLUE Defined for Kids

glue

play

noun \ ˈglü \

Definition of glue for Students

:a substance used to stick things tightly together

—

gluey

\ˈglü-ē\ adjective

glue

verb

Definition of glue for Students

glued; gluing

:to stick with or as if with glue

… here they were, eyes glued on my mother and taking in every word.
—Barbara Robinson, Best Christmas Pageant

Learn More about glue

See words that rhyme with glue Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for glue Spanish Central: Translation of glue Nglish: Translation of glue for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of glue for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about glue

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glue

Definition of glue

gluey

gluily

From the M-W Editors

Examples of glue in a Sentence

Recent Examples of glue from the Web

Origin and Etymology of glue

glue Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

glue

Definition of glue

Examples of glue in a Sentence

Recent Examples of glue from the Web

First Known Use of glue

Phrases Related to GLUE

Related Phrases

GLUE Defined for English Language Learners

glue

Definition of glue for English Language Learners

glue

Definition of glue for English Language Learners

GLUE Defined for Kids

glue

Definition of glue for Students

gluey

glue

Definition of glue for Students

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