Mortar Meaning
/ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks.
nounA hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle.
Sentence Examples
We can build a wall with bricks and mortar.
I need to buy a mortar and pestle to grind garbanzo beans for authentic hummus.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mason used ____ to bind the bricks together in the wall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The bricklayer carefully mixed a fresh batch of ____ before he began to build the new wall for the family's garden shed.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The holy hearth! If any earthly and material thing, or rather a divine idea embodied in brick and mortar, might be supposed to possess the permanence of moral truth, it was this."
— 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Fire Worship”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mason used ____ to bind the bricks together in the wall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The bricklayer carefully mixed a fresh batch of ____ before he began to build the new wall for the family's garden shed.