What is "mortar"

Mortar \Mor"tar\, n. [OE. morter, AS. mort[=e]re, L. mortarium: cf. F. mortier mortar. Cf. sense 2 (below), also 2d Mortar, Martel, Morter.]

1. A strong vessel, commonly in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or rubbed with a pestle.

2. [F. mortier, fr. L. mortarium mortar (for trituarating).] (Mil.) A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45[deg], and even higher; -- so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.

   Mortar bed (Mil.), a framework of wood and iron, suitably hollowed out to receive the breech and trunnions of a mortar.

   Mortar boat or Mortar vessel (Naut.), a boat strongly built and adapted to carrying a mortar or mortars for bombarding; a bomb ketch.

   Mortar piece, a mortar. [Obs.]
   --Shak.

Mortar \Mor"tar\, n. [OE. mortier, F. mortier, L. mortarium mortar, a large basin or trough in which mortar is made, a mortar (in sense 1, above). See 1st Mortar.] (Arch.) A building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials; -- used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also for plastering, and in other ways.

Mortar bed, a shallow box or receptacle in which mortar is mixed.

Mortar \Mor"tar\, v. t. To plaster or make fast with mortar.

Mortar \Mor"tar\, n. [F. mortier. See Mortar a vessel.] A chamber lamp or light. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.

"mixture of cement," late 13c., from Old French mortier "builder's mortar, plaster; bowl for mixing" (13c.), from Latin mortarium "mortar," also "crushed drugs," probably the same word as mortarium "bowl for mixing or pounding" (see mortar (n.2)). Dutch mortel, German Mörtel are from Latin or French.

"bowl for pounding," c.1300, from Old French mortier "bowl; builder's mortar," from Latin mortarium "bowl for mixing or pounding," also "material prepared in it," of unknown origin and impossible now to determine which sense was original (Watkins says probably from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm;" see morbid). Late Old English had mortere, from the same Latin source, which might also be a source of the modern word. German Mörser also is from Latin.

"short cannon" fired at a high angle and meant to secure a vertical fall of the projectile, 1550s, originally mortar-piece, from Middle French mortier "short cannon," in Old French, "bowl for mixing or pounding" (see mortar (n.2)). So called for its shape.

n. 1 (context uncountable English) A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks. 2 (context countable military English) A muzzle-loading, indirect fire weapon with a tube length of 10 to 20 calibers and designed to lob shells at very steep trajectories. 3 (context countable English) A hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle. vb. 1 To use mortar or plaster to join two things together. 2 To fire a mortar (weapon)

1. n. a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range [syn: howitzer, trench mortar]

2. used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall

3. a bowl-shaped vessel in which substances can be ground and mixed with a pestle

4. v. plaster with mortar; "mortar the wall"

Mortar may refer to:

• Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire cannon
• Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
• Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
• Mortar, Bihar, village in the state of Bihar, India

Mortar is a workable paste used to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units together, fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, and sometimes add decorative colors or patterns in masonry walls. In its broadest sense mortar includes pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, such as used between mud bricks. Mortar comes from Latin mortarium meaning crushed.

Cement mortar becomes hard when it cures, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure; however the mortar is intended to be weaker than the building blocks and the sacrificial element in the masonry, because the mortar is easier and less expensive to repair than the building blocks. Mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder, and water. The most common binder since the early 20th century is Portland cement but the ancient binder lime mortar is still used in some new construction. Lime and gypsum in the form of plaster of Paris are used particularly in the repair and repointing of buildings and structures because it is important the repair materials are similar to the original materials: The type and ratio of the repair mortar is determined by a mortar analysis. There are several types of cement mortars and additives.

A mortar is a device that fires projectiles at low velocities and short ranges. The mortar has traditionally been used as a weapon to propel explosive mortar bombs in high-arcing ballistic trajectories. The weapon is typically muzzle-loading with a short, often smooth-bore barrel, generally less than 15 times its caliber. Mortar bombs are often referred to, incorrectly, as "mortars".

Mortars are also used for a non-weapon purpose, to deploy ballistic parachutes. Such applications have included the deployment of drogue parachutes in preparation for water landing of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space capsules.