mortar

/ˈmɔrdər/

/ˈmɔtə/

Other forms: mortars; mortared; mortaring

A mortar is a bowl-shaped container that you can grind things in using a pestle. You probably buy your spices pre-ground at the store, but if you wanted to be old-school, you could grind them yourself with a mortar and pestle.

Mortar is an old word — it comes from Old English, and using a mortar to smash things up is old way of cooking. It's also the builder's paste used between bricks. If you've heard the phrase "brick and mortar," that's a style of building, as well as a general phrase for something with a real building (as opposed to an internet business). And it's also a gun that fires high bullets that land short-range.

Definitions of mortar

1. noun

   a bowl-shaped vessel in which substances can be ground and mixed with a pestle
   type of:

   vessel

   an object used as a container (especially for liquids)
2. noun

   a substance used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall
   type of:

   building material

   material used for constructing buildings
3. verb

   plaster with mortar
   “mortar the wall”

   type of:

   daub, plaster

   coat with plaster
4. noun

   a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range
   synonyms: howitzer, trench mortar

   type of:

   high-angle gun

   a cannon that can be fired at a high elevation for relatively short ranges