Definition of "cement" []

• A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine powder, which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used as an ingredient in making mortar or concrete. (noun)
• Portland cement. (noun)
• Concrete. (noun)
• A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue. (noun)
• Something that serves to bind or unite: "Custom was in early days the cement of society” ( Walter Bagehot). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Kevin McHale was close -- the Boston Celtics forward once told me how complete his life would've been had he invented the phrase "cement pond" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" -- but McHale was a supporting player on teams led by Larry Bird, and, with Bird around, you couldn't get too antic."
• "In addition, he also helped build thousands of mini check dams through what he called a cement scheme."
• "Everywhere certainty is set in cement and tolerance is banished from the mind."