glue

Etymology

From Middle English glew, glue, from Old French glu (“glue, birdlime”), from Late Latin glūs (stem glūt-), from Latin glūten. Related to clay. Displaced native Old English līm (“glue”) and ġelīman (“to glue”).

noun

1. A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.
   The wasp has always made the paper from which it constructs its nest, by uniting vegetable fibres with glue, while man was vexing himself with attempts to write on the bark of trees or a waxen or metallic table. 1832 July, “Review: Habits of Insects”, in North American Review, volume 35, number 76, →JSTOR, page 217
   During the next few days, while the meat dried, they were both busy. They finished the bowl boat and coated it with the glue Jondalar made by boiling down the hooves, bone, and hide scraps. 1990, Jean Marie Auel, chapter 9, in The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children), New York: Random House, published 2010, page 145
2. (figurative) Anything that binds two things or people together.
   What is a kiss ? Why this, as some approve, / The sure sweet cement, glue, and lime of love. 1648, Robert Herrick, “A Kiss”, in Hesperides, London: H. G. Bohn, published 1852, page 159
   In other words, the railways are the glue which holds the country together for those without cars, and for those of us who want to get between major cities sustainably and rapidly. The railways are not a 'nice to have extra', but a key component of our infrastructure. December 28 2022, Christian Wolmar, “Annus horribilus must mark a turning point for our railway”, in RAIL, number 973, page 45

verb

1. (transitive) To join or attach something using glue.
   I need to glue the chair-leg back into place.
   […] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew. 23 December 2014, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2014-12-23
2. (transitive, figurative) To cause something to adhere closely to; to cause to follow attentively.
   His eyes were glued to the screen.
   Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland. May 9 1961, Newton N. Minow, Television and the Public Interest
   If, like me, you have been confined to your home, glued to the news and nursing ever greater anxiety about the state of the world, you have probably become familiar with the sight of the World Health Organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and his daily press briefings. 2020-04-10, Stephen Buranyi, “The WHO v coronavirus: why it can't handle the pandemic”, in The Guardian
3. (intransitive) To apply glue.
   "This is how the whiskers went, I think. Cut long strips of paper—I'm just using a second paper bag here—and run the flat edge of the scissors down the strip to make it curl. Voilà. Then glue each whisker, like so, next to the nose, four on a side." She was watching. I glued quickly so I wouldn't lose her. 1987, Josephine Humphreys, Rich in Love, New York, N.Y.: Viking, page 236
   Children need help in understanding such things as how to control a paintbrush, how to cut efficiently, how to glue with care and dexterity, and even how to manage a sponge during a cleanup task. 1994, Sylvia G. Feinburg, Mary Mindess, Eliciting Children's Full Potential: Designing & Evaluating Developmentally Based Programs for Young Children, Pacific Grove, C.A.: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, page 123