cement

Syllables: ce·ment/səˈmɛnt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Southern US/ˈsi.mɛnt/

cement noun: a powdered substance produced by firing (calcining) calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay that develops strong cohesive properties when mixed with water. The main ingredient of concrete.

Image: Szlomo Lejb, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

cement (countable and uncountable, plural cements)

A powdered substance produced by firing (calcining) calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay that develops strong cohesive properties when mixed with water. The main ingredient of concrete.
- In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- Indigenous bacteria, which naturally exist in specific environments, are being increasingly utilized in self-healing cement to promote calcite precipitation, a process that fills cracks and restores the material’s structural integrity [4,5].2024 October 10, Tiana Milović et al., “Enhancing Compressive Strength of Cement by Indigenous Individual and Co-Culture Bacillus Bacteria”, in Materials, volume 17, number 20, →DOI, archived from...
(uncountable) The paste-like substance resulting from mixing such a powder with water, or the rock-like substance that forms when it dries.
(uncountable) Any material with strong adhesive and cohesive properties such as binding agents, glues, grout.
(figuratively) A bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship or in society.
- the cement of our love
The layer of bone investing the root and neck of a tooth; cementum.

Verb

cement (third-person singular simple present cements, present participle cementing, simple past and past participle cemented)

(transitive) To affix with cement.
(transitive) To overlay or coat with cement.
- to cement a cellar floor
(figuratively, transitive) To unite firmly or closely.
- For they have entertained cause enough
  To draw their swords: but how the fear of us
  May cement their divisions and bind up
  The petty difference, we yet not know.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
- Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103
(figuratively, transitive) To repair.
- When neibors anger at a plea, / An' just as wud as wud can be, / How easy can the barley-bree / Cement the quarrel!1785, Robert Burns, Scotch Drink
(figuratively, transitive) To make permanent.
- But friendſhip is a calm and ſedate affection, conducted by reaſon and cemented by habit; ſpringing from long acquaintance and mutual obligations; without jealouſies or fears; and without thoſe feveriſh fits of heat and cold, which cauſe ſuch an agreeable torment in the amorous paſſion.1758, David Hume, “Essay XXII. Of Polygamy and Divorces.”, in Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, new edition, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar, in the Strand; and A. Kincaid and A....
- [Dele] Alli’s ability to break forward from midfield was a prominent feature and the 19-year-old must have gone a long way to cementing his place in the team.2016 March 27, Daniel Taylor, “Eric Dier seals England’s stunning comeback against Germany”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2016

Proper noun capitalized: Cement

Cement

A town in Oklahoma.

cement meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

cement in Hindi

a powdered substance: सीमेंट sīmẽṭ

cement in Tamil

a powdered substance: சிமிட்டி cimiṭṭi, பைஞ்சுதை paiñcutai
the paste-like substance: காரை kārai
any material with strong adhesive and cohesive properties: பசை pacai
to make permanent: நிலைப்படுத்து nilaippaṭuttu

cement in Marathi

a powdered substance: सिमेंट simeṇṭa
the paste-like substance: सिमेंट simeṇṭa

cement in Urdu

a powdered substance: سیمنٹ sīmeṇṭ

More languagesFewer languages

cement in Bengali: সিমেন্ট śimenṭo
cement in Telugu: అతికించు atikiñcu
cement in Malayalam: സിമന്റ് simanṟŭ
cement in Kannada: ಕಲ್ಲುಗಾರೆ
cement in Punjabi: ਸੀਮਿੰਟ sīmiṇṭ
cement in Sinhala: සිමෙන්ති simenti
cement in Tagalog: semento
cement in Arabic: أَسْمَنْت ʔasmant, سَمْنَتَ samnata
cement in Malay: simen
cement in Indonesian: semen
cement in Persian: سیمان simân, ملات malât
cement in Thai: ซีเมนต์ sii-men
cement in Vietnamese: xi măng
cement in Myanmar: အင်္ဂတေ angga.te, ဘိလပ်မြေ bhi.lapmre

Examples of cement in a sentence

If he doesn't pay off the mafia, he’ll wear cement shoes to the bottom of the drink!
He had to re-lay the tiles because the cement was too dry.
Give the cement 24 hours to set up before walking on it.

All 40 example sentences with cement

Forms of cement

Noun
plural	cements
alternative form (archaic)	caement
alternative form (archaic)	cæment
Verb
third-person singular present	cements
present participle	cementing
past participle	cemented
past	cemented

Past tense of cement: cemented

Plural of cement: cements

Origin of cement

From Middle English syment, cyment, from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum (“quarry stone; stone chips for making mortar”), from caedō (“to cut, hew”). Doublet of cementum.

Named for its early cement industry.

Words formed from cement

Phrases with cement

Words that rhyme with cement

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cement

What does cement mean?: Cement means a powdered substance produced by firing (calcining) calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay that develops strong cohesive properties when mixed with water. The main ingredient of concrete.
What is cement in Hindi?: Cement in Hindi is सीमेंट (sīmẽṭ). See Cement meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is cement?: Cement can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cement?: Cement is pronounced /səˈmɛnt/.
What is the plural of cement?: The plural of cement is cements.

Words near cement in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cement (page history and authors); Cement (page history and authors); అతికించు (Telugu) (page history and authors); cement (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-cement.ogg, en-au-cement.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cement.wav.

Cite this entry: “cement.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cement. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.