What does "paste" mean?
A soft moist mixture, in particular:; One of flour, fat, or similar ingredients used in making pastry.
Paste
/peɪst/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A soft moist mixture, in particular:; One of flour, fat, or similar ingredients used in making pastry.
- Grammar: paste is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: spread, abrasives, adhere, adherent.
- Useful contrasts: german puder, liquid mediums, broth.
- Usage evidence: I stuck two sheets of paper together with paste.
How to use "paste"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "paste" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "paste" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "paste" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "paste" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "paste" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "spread" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "paste", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A soft moist mixture, in particular:; One of flour, fat, or similar ingredients used in making pastry. countable, uncountable
- 2 plural of pasta form-of, plural, rare
- 3 a tasty mixture to be spread on bread or crackers or used in preparing other dishes wordnet
- 4 A soft moist mixture, in particular:; Pastry. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"And that day month, he had the paste rolled out, and cut the fair twin's head off, and chopped her in pieces, and peppered her, and salted her, and put her in the pie, and sent it to the baker's, and ate it all, and picked the bones."
- 5 an adhesive made from water and flour or starch; used on paper and paperboard wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 A soft moist mixture, in particular:; One of pounded foods, such as fish paste, liver paste, or tomato paste. countable, uncountable
- 7 any mixture of a soft and malleable consistency wordnet
- 8 A soft moist mixture, in particular:; One used as an adhesive, especially for putting up wallpapers, etc. countable, uncountable
"Near-synonyms: glue, adhesive"
- 9 a hard, brilliant lead glass that is used in making artificial jewelry wordnet
- 10 A substance that behaves as a solid until a sufficiently large load or stress is applied, at which point it flows like a fluid countable, uncountable
- 11 A hard lead-containing glass, or an artificial gemstone made from this glass. countable, uncountable
"Yesterday I bought some paste, which is a nickname for fake diamonds, and they were from Bergdorf’s."
- 12 Pasta. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"This is likewise the market for their oil, and the paste called macaroni, of which they make a good quantity."
- 13 The mineral substance in which other minerals are embedded. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To stick with paste; to cause to adhere by or as if by paste. transitive
- 2 To strike or beat someone or something. slang, transitive
"He got up and pasted Byfield in the mouth."
- 3 join or attach with or as if with glue wordnet
- 4 To insert a piece of media (e.g. text, picture, audio, video) previously copied or cut from somewhere else. transitive
- 5 To defeat decisively or by a large margin. slang, transitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 cover the surface of wordnet
- 7 hit with the fists wordnet
Example
"I stuck two sheets of paper together with paste."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "paste"?
Common synonyms include: spread, abrasives, adhere, adherent, adhesive, adhesive.
How do you use "paste" in a sentence?
I stuck two sheets of paper together with paste.
How do you pronounce "paste"?
Pronounced /peɪst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kweh₁t-der. Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Ancient Greek -τός (-tós) Ancient Greek παστός (pastós) Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor. Late Latin pasta Old French pastebor. Middle English paste English paste From Middle English paste, from Old French paste (modern pâte), from Late Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá). Doublet of pasta. The verb is from the noun. Middle English had pasten (“to make a paste of; bake in a pastry”), also from the noun; compare Latin pistō and Medieval Latin pastillātus.
Etymology 2
Probably an alteration of baste (“beat”) influenced by some sense of the noun.
Etymology 3
Unadapted borrowing from Italian paste (“pastas”).