▪ I. glue, n.
(gl(j)uː)
Forms: 4–5 glu, 4–8 glew(e, (4 glyu, 5 glowe, gluwe, glewȝ, 6 gleu), 4– glue.
[ad. OF. glu (sense 1), Pr. glut:—late L. glūt-em, glūs glue.]
† 1. Bird-lime. Also fig. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 223 Flee we her sentence as heresie or fendis glewe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 200/1 Glu, of festynge, viscus. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. xcv. (1482) 75 They made engyns with glew of nettes. 1704 Collect. Voy. (Churchill) III. 26/1 Who..take so many [birds] with Glue or Nets. |
2. A hard, brittle, brownish gelatin, obtained by boiling the hides and hoofs of animals to a jelly; when gently heated with water, it is used as a cement for uniting substances.
fish-glue (see
fish n.1 7).
Dutch glue or
Flanders glue: a very fine kind of glue.
lip glue or
mouth-glue: a compound of glue and sugar, which can be used by moistening with the tongue.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 135 As it were two bordis weren ioyned togidere with cole or with glu. 1456 Tintinhull Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 187 It. in gluwe ad idem opus [bookbinding]..iiij{supd}. c 1520 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 206 Item pro j lib. le glew, 3d. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 30 Dippe your hande in molten glewe. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. xxvi. 175 Just as glue is betwixt two boards to hold them fast together. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 180 Leaving it to dry..to the Consistence of Flanders Glue. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 86 Awkward joinings by seams, tenons, nails, and glues, betraying the imperfections of their workman to the eye. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 293 Every substance..an infusion of which can precipitate animal glue, possesses a tanning property. 1846 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. II. 377 An odour of burned horn or glue. |
3. a. Used loosely for any substance that serves as a cement.
marine glue (see
quot. 1876).
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xli. 7 Seiende to the glyu, It is good. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 1232 He sette a deppe caudron of bras, A manere of glowe he dyde thare-inne. c 1477 Caxton Jason 81 And wyth this glue thou shalt enoynte the mosels of these two meruayllous booles. 1617 Markham Caval. vi. Ded., Whilest the glew of Lime and Simant shall knit stones together, so long in our house will be held their memories. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments (1735) 192 The Flowers of Grains, mix'd with Water, will make a sort of Glue. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 15 note, The marine glue, patented by Jeffrey in 1842, is formed by dissolving one pound of caoutchouc in four gallons of naphtha... Two parts of shellac are then added to one part of this mixture. |
† b. = gum. Also
cherry-tree glue,
plum-tree glue.
| 1683 Salmon Doron Med. i. 233 Cherry-tree, or Plum-tree Glew. 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. xix. (ed. 2) 357 The glue or gum, being passed through these minute apertures, forms hairs of almost imperceptible fineness. |
† c. Bitumen, pitch.
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif Gen. vi. 14 With ynne and with oute thow shalt diȝten it [the ark] with glew. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xv. xxii. (Tollem. MS.), Also þere [in Babylon] was a toure, þe mater þerof was brent tyll made of glewe. Ibid. xvi. xix. (1495) 559 Glewe is slymy gleue of the erth [Bitumen est terra a gleba limosa]. |
† d. = bee-glue (see
bee 7):
tr. L.
gluten.
Obs.| 1694 Addison Virgil Misc. Wks. 1726 I. 16 For this they hoard up glew. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 55 Th' industrious Kind..with their Stores of gather'd Glue, contrive To stop the Vents and Crannies of their Hive. |
e. fig.| 1340 Ayenb. 246 He him ioineþ to god be a glu of loue. 1547–64 Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) 48 Life is nothing else but as it were a glue, which in man fastneth the soule and body together. 1589 R. Bruce Serm. (1843) 154 Love is that celestial glue that conjoins all the faithful members in the unity of one mysticall body. 1608 Hieron Wks. I. 717/2 Dissolue this glue, by which my affections are so close fastned vnto those earthly things. a 1659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) II. xvi. 205 Charity..'tis the glew and cement of the World. 1858 Lowell Amer. Tract Soc. Prose Wks. 1890 V. 9 We Americans are very fond of this glue of compromise. |
4. Soap-making. A name for the condition of soap at an early stage of its manufacture (see
quot.).
| 1885 W. L. Carpenter Soap & Candles 167 Practice alone will enable the operator to judge of the completion of this first operation, called ‘pasting’ (French empâtage)..the soap is then said to be..in a ‘hitch’ or ‘glue’. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple attributive, as
glue-bandage,
glue-brush,
glue-can,
glue-cliché,
glue-kettle,
glue-paper,
glue-size;
b. objective, as
glue-boiler,
glue-factor,
glue-maker. Also
glue-like adj.| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 29 Jan. 6/2 Wood splints were placed across the bandages and firmly wrapped in lint, the whole being covered by a *glue bandage. |
| 1755 Johnson, *Glue-boiler, one whose trade is to make glue. |
| 1847 Smeaton Builder's Man. 85 The glue..does not drop from the *glue-brush as water or oil. |
| 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 367 The manufacture of the *glue clichés is now an easy matter. |
| 1880 Pl. Hints Exam. Needlework 67 Nets are used by the *glue factors in Bermondsey and Southwark, for drying the glue. |
| 1895 G. M. Tucker Com. Speech 2 A rusty stove surmounted by a *glue-kettle. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 514 A thin watery discharge which gradually becomes thick, viscid and *glue-like. |
| 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v., Diseases of *glue-makers. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 475 He..forcibly presses the *glue-paper against it. |
6. Special comb.:
glue-plant, a sea-weed,
Plocaria tenax (
Syd. Soc. Lex. 1885);
glue-sniffer, a person who inhales the fumes of plastic cement for their narcotic effects; so
glue-sniff v. intr.,
glue-sniffing vbl. n.;
glue-stock, hides used as material for glue;
glue-water, water in which glue has been dissolved. Also
glue-pot.
| 1963 New Society 20 June 14/1 A new threat to teen-age stability..is glue-sniffing, the deliberate inhaling of the fumes from plastic cement. Ibid. 14/2 The glue sniffers..frequently fall asleep in class. 1968 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Oct. 21/1 That particular glue-sniffer told police his story in Los Angeles, but it could just as easily have been in any police department in Greater Victoria. 1971 E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 90 Glue sniff v., inhale model-airplane glue... Glue sniffing is regarded as an adolescent type of drug abuse, but it causes organic brain damage, and it can cause liver, kidney and bone-marrow damage. Eventually most glue sniffers outgrow glue and go to more adult-type drugs such as marijuana, [etc.]. 1971 J. Drummond Farewell Party xxv. 131 One of those red brick boxes..with a nice view of the glue factory... A glue-sniffer could get high there..just by holding his breath. |
| 1885 C. T. Davis Leather i. 55 All stag, tainted, and badly scored..hides..must go at two-thirds price, unless they are badly damaged, when they are classed as *glue stock. |
| 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 20 Moisten them [the Ashes] with strong-Beer..or with a *Glew-water. |
Add:
[6.] glue ear, a condition in which a viscous fluid blocks the Eustachian tube and impairs hearing, occurring chiefly in children as a result of infection of the middle ear; secretory otitis media.
| 1960 B. H. Senturia et al. in Trans. Amer. Acad. Ophthalmol. & Otolaryngol. LXIV. 61 (table) Chronic Otitis Media... *Glue Ear... Secretory Otitis Media. 1989 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 10 June 1549/1 Middle ear effusion (glue ear) is the commonest reason for admitting young children for an operation. 1991 Times Educ. Suppl. 18 Jan. 12/5 Children with glue ear..should be put at the front of the class, so they can hear better. Some have even inadvertently taught themselves to lip-read. |
▪ II. glue, v. (
gl(j)uː)
Forms: 3
glywe-n, 4
gluwe, 4–8
glew(e, 5
glu-yn,
glw-yn,
glyewe, 6–
glue. Also
pa. pple. 4
i-glewed,
y-glywed.
[f. the n. Cf. F. gluer (from 13th c.).] 1. a. trans. To join or fasten (together) with glue, or some similar viscous substance. Const.
on or
upon,
to or
unto. Also with
advs., as
on,
together,
up.
| 13.. K. Alis. 6180 A clay they haveth..Therof they makith bour and halle..And wyndowes y-glywed by gynne Never more water no comuth therynne. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 174 The hors of bras, þat may nat be remewed, It stant as it were to the ground yglewed. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, Theyr iawes togither it shall glyewe. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xxii. 7 Who so teacheth a foole, is euen as one that gleweth a potsherde together. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 41 Goe too: haue your Lath glued within your sheath, Till you know better how to handle it. 1680 Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 62 Rolls of paper, Cut into long scrowles, and glu'd..together. 1702 W. J. Bruyn's Voy. Levant xxxvii. 146 Several Linnen Clothes glew'd upon each other. 1741 Monro Anat. Bones (ed. 3) 290 The Cartilage seems to glew the two Bones together. 1781 Cowper Charity 50 The hand..Was glued to the sword-hilt with Indian gore. 1850 Ann. Nat. Hist. Ser. ii. V. 284 These globules are probably composed of some tenacious mucus with which to glue the egg to any substance on which it may happen to settle. 1842–59 Gwilt Archit. (ed. 4) 579 The way in which bodies are glued up together for different purposes..Two boards glued up edge to edge. 1889 J. M. Duncan Lect. Dis. Women xxviii. (ed. 4) 228 The ovaries and intestines and broad ligaments and parietal pelvic peritoneum became glued together. |
† b. To involve or entangle in some sticky substance (such as bird-lime), so as to impede or clog free motion (
lit. and
fig.). Also, to constipate (the bowels);
= glutinate 1 b.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 301 Þe kynge [Louis] wiste nouȝt how faste he hadde i-glewed hym self. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxi. 117 (Add. MS.) Wherfore his tethe of the oynement were so glewed [L. (ed. Oesterley) gummo pleni erant]. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 33 Duckes meat..gleweth or bindeth or maketh fast the bowelles of yong childer. 1603 Florio Montaigne (1634) 492 Those silly harmlesse beasts indiscreetly..ensnared, glewed..and shackled themselves. 1691 Dryden K. Arthur iii. ii, Heaven's birdlime wraps me round, and glues my wings. |
c. to glue up: to seal up as with glue; to shut up tightly.
† Also without
up.
| 1658 W. Sanderson Graphice 82 Put into a gallon pot certain plaits of clean fine lead..glewing the pot with clean Lome. 1817 Cobbett Wks. XXXII. 3 The approaching Session of Parliament will open millions of pairs of eyes, which have been glued up by false alarms for the last twenty-five years. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxx. (1856) 258 We were glued up. |
2. transf. and
fig. To cause to adhere closely or firmly; to fix or attach firmly (as if by gluing). Formerly often without explicit reference to the
lit. use,
esp. in sense: To attach in sympathy or affection. Const. as in 1. Also with
up.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 671 Let men glewe on us the name. 1547 Homilies i. Contention (1859) 135 We cannot be joined to Christ our Head, except we be glued with concord and charity one to another. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 5 My Loue and Feare, glew'd many Friends to thee, And now I fall. a 1659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) II. xxv. 314 Prosperity glues us to this life, Afflictions loosen us. 1700 Dryden Fables, Sigism. & Guisc. 641 She..Then to the heart ador'd devoutly glew'd Her lips. 1758 Rutty Spirit. Diary (ed. 2) 114 Why then so glued to this life? 1770 Foote Lame Lover ii. Wks. 1799 II. 79 With your eyes glew'd close to the key-hole. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 13 July, She now began to glue herself to his favour with the grossest adulation. 1821–30 Ld. Cockburn Mem. vi. (1874) 336 This single fact glued the whole Tories together. 1826 Scott Woodst. ix, He glued the huge flagon to his lips. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xiii. (1855) 121 Her ear having been glued to the key-hole. 1884 World 20 Aug. 15/2 Our men are taught to pound along automatically, with their left hand glued to their trousers' seams. |
3. intr. a. To stick together in virtue of some inherent property; to adhere. Also
fig. b. To admit of being fastened by glue.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 66 A roten swerd..tough to glewe ayeyn though hit me delue. 1607 Middleton Five Gallants iv. viii, Here be five on's; let's but glue together, why now the world shall not come between us. 1664 Evelyn Sylva (1679) 27 It is observ'd that Oak will not easily glue to other Wood. 1701 Grew Cosm. Sacra iii. ii. 97 The Flesh will glew together, with its own Native Balm. 1885 Spons' Mechanics' Own Bk. 131 The wood glues well. |
† 4. trans. To daub or smear with glue or other viscous substance. Also with
over. ?
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif Exod. ii. 3 He tok a ionket of resshen, and glewide it with glewishe cley, and with picche. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxviii. (1495) 934 The vessell in the whyche Moyses was in was glewed or pytched. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 49/2 Swallows..when they build their Nests, first dawb or glue over the beams which are to be the foundation. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. vii. 532 All the tar-beat floor Is clogg'd with spatter'd brains and glued with gore. |