mortar
noun
[ ˈmɔːtə ]
• a short smooth-bore gun for firing shells (technically called bombs) at high angles.
• "mortars and machine guns"
• a cup-shaped receptacle in which ingredients are crushed or ground, used in cooking or pharmacy.
• "a pestle and mortar"
mortar
verb
• attack or bombard with a mortar.
• "the Commando positions were being heavily mortared"
Origin:
late Old English (in mortar1 (sense 2 of the noun)), from Old French mortier, from Latin mortarium (to which the English spelling was later assimilated).
mortar
noun
• a mixture of lime with cement, sand, and water, used in building to bond bricks or stones.
mortar
verb
• fix or join using mortar.
• "the pipe can be mortared in place"
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French mortier, from Latin mortarium, probably a transferred sense of the word denoting a container (see mortar1).
