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.

(botany) A viscid secretion on the surface of certain plants.

verb

(transitive) To join or attach something using glue.

(transitive, figuratively) To cause something to adhere closely to; to cause to follow attentively.

(intransitive) To apply glue.

Roots

glusglue- · Late Latin · glue, birdlime

Synonyms for glue

pasten adhesiveadj mucilagen gumn puttyn agglutinatev stickv plastern affixv goon

Synonyms & related words for glue

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of glue — including paste, adhesive, mucilage, gum, putty, agglutinate. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to glue

Explore words related to glue — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include superglue, deglutinate, unglue, adhesively, nonsticking, gluey, conglutinate, epoxy. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for glue

Common synonyms for glue include paste, adhesive, mucilage, gum, putty, agglutinate, stick, plaster — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does glue come from?

The word glue breaks down into one root of Late Latin origin: the root glue, from Late Latin glus (“glue, birdlime”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.