glue
verb · noun
Simple meaning
A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
glooIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡlu
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Be fixed as if by glue
“His eyes were glued on her.”
Join or attach with or as if with glue
transitivefiguratively
To cause something to adhere closely to; to cause to follow attentively.
intransitive
To apply glue.
noun
A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.
figurative
Anything that binds two things or people together.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use glue
- “His eyes were glued on her.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Made from casein.
A commercial brand of epoxy glue.
A thermosetting resin.
Gelatinous substance obtained by boiling skins fins and bones of fish.
A protein gelatin obtained by boiling e.g. skins and hoofs of cattle and horses.
Glue that is not water soluble.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.