adhesiveadj.n.
/ədˈ(h)iːsɪv/, /ədˈ(h)iːzɪv/, /adˈ(h)iːsɪv/, /adˈ(h)iːzɪv/, U.S. /ædˈ(h)izɪv/, /ədˈ(h)izɪv/, /ædˈ(h)isɪv/, /ədˈ(h)isɪv/ A. adj.
1. Having the property of physically adhering to something, sticky; (also) that has an adhesive surface or surfaces.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > [adjective] > attached by something adhesive > having adhesive quality
cleavingc1350
holdingc1400
withholdingc1430
fatc1503
gluing1572
adhering1592
viscous1605
tenacious1648
birdlimey1657
adhesive1661
agglutinating1664
sticky1688
clingy1708
adherescent1743
tacky1788
detainable1801
detentive1881
stickfast1888
stick-on1904
1661 K. Digby Disc. Vegetation Plants 33 The steams..being of a viscous and adhæsive nature..fill up with their glewy matter the intervalls between the main threds.
1692 W. Salmon tr. ‘Pseudo-Geber’ Summa in Medicina Practica ii. xlv. 353/2 The Sulphur being more burning and adhæsive to the Argent Vive.
1729 G. Smith Nature Fermentation Explain'd 21 Nothing is more viscous and adhesive than Molosses.
1778 W. Carmichael Let. 14 May in B. Franklin Papers (1987) XXVI. 451 It may not be amiss to add..a proof which we had of the adhesive force of the sucker fish.
1789 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. II i. 36 The paste, made by boiling wheat-flour in water, ceases to be adhesive after having been frozen.
1800 R. Bloomfield Spring in Farmer's Boy (ed. 2) 82 The dirt adhesive loads his clouted shoes.
1858 H. Miller Cruise of Betsey ii. 258 The Blackpots clay is..so adhesive, that I now felt..as if I had got into a bed of birdlime.
1931 H. Battley Single Finger Prints vi. 75 A dark surface to which an adhesive preparation has been applied.
1974 A. J. Huxley Plant & Planet (1978) viii. 87 Tendrils with adhesive discs at the ends, which secrete a glue-like substance.
1995 Lo Que Pasa 16 Nov. 2/1 Envelopes with windows and adhesive labels.
2. Steadfastly attached or committed (to something); (hence) tenacious, clinging; persistent, abiding.
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the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > [adjective] > attached by something adhesive > apt or tending to adhere
adherent?1541
stickingc1550
adhering1592
clasping1611
cleaving1641
clunging1647
tenacious1656
adhesive1663
clinginga1763
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus v. 99 The devil grew more impudent, and adhesive to his possession.
1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa iii. ii. 262 To render the election of the Pope more tedious, and pernicious, that is, more adhæsive to the World.
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 147 The stag... If slow, yet sure, adhesive to the tract Hot-steaming, up behind him comes..Th'inhuman rout.
1796 F. Burney Camilla V. x. v. 338 Her Father in prison!.. The picture was too horrible for her view, yet too adhesive to all her thoughts..to be removed from them a moment.
c1818 J. Porter Let. in J. Keats Life & Lett. (1969) 149 I was also very unwell with my still-adhesive cold.
1854 Rept. & Charts of Cruise of U.S. Brig Dolphin 58 There is abundant authority for the substantive, adhesive, and propagatory character of this infectious principle.
1919 P. G. Wodehouse Damsel in Distress xv. 180 She..realized what a handicap an adhesive family can be to a young girl.
1986 A. C. Clarke Songs of Distant Earth iii. xviii. 58 That traditional spoilsport, an adhesive kid brother.
2005 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Mar. 8/2 The satirist..looks back to a golden age of braver spirits and more adhesive allegiances.
B. n.
1. † a. = adhesive plaster n. (a) at Compounds. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > equipment for treating wound or ulcer > [noun] > poultice, plaster, or compress
plasterOE
clydec1325
emplastera1382
entretea1400
pottagea1400
poulticea1400
faldellac1400
treatc1400
Gratia Dei?a1425
magdaleon?a1425
strictorya1425
grace of Godc1450
emplastrum?1541
malagma?1541
sparadrap1543
spasmadrap?a1547
plasture?1550
mustard plaster1562
cataplasm1563
oint-plaster1578
quilt1583
compress1599
compression1599
diachylum-plaster1599
pulment1599
pulvinar1599
frontlet1600
sinapism1601
epithemation1615
diapalma1646
opodeldoc1646
attraction1656
treacle plaster1659
melilot emplaster1676
stay1676
oxycroceum1696
melilot plaster1712
adhesive1753
bag1753
mustard poultice1765
soap plaster1789
water dressing1830
poor man's plaster1833
compressor1851
spongiopiline1851
vinegar-poultice1854
water-strapping1854
pitch-plaster1858
jacket poultice1862
mustard leaf1869
mustard paper1874
piline1874
plaster-mull1890
mustard cloth1897
plaster-muslin1899
antiphlogistin1901
1753 W. Lewis New Dispensatory 498/1 These plasters are used chiefly as adhesives, for keeping on other dressings.
b. = adhesive plaster n. (b) at Compounds.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > equipment for treating wound or ulcer > [noun] > sticking-plaster
patch?c1425
sticking plaster1584
dry stitch1674
strap1749
sticking silk1766
court-plaster1773
adhesive bandage1797
strapping1818
adhesive1835
Band-Aid1924
Elastoplast1928
1835 J. C. Spender Observ. Causes & Treatm. Ulcerous Dis. of Leg 126 If any great pressure at all is required at the very extremity of the heel,..it is accomplished by using one strip of adhesive, either before or after placing the bandage.
1856 Buffalo Med. Jrnl. Sept. 231 The flaps of skin came readily together, and were secured by sutures and adhesives.
1917 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 1 Feb. 169/2 Anticipating a haematoma in the wound, a pad of several pieces of gauze was placed firmly against it with several strips of adhesive.
2010 L. King Father of Rain 320 In the first one [sc. cubicle] is a black man with wires attached all over his bare chest by round adhesives that are not his skin color.
2.
a. A substance used for sticking objects or materials together; glue.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > adhesive > [noun]
gluea1382
size1530
cement1562
solder1582
cementum1617
gluten1639
binder1678
conglutinatora1728
glutin1825
cheese cement1839
agglutinant1844
adhesive1849
stickum1877
stickall1880
stick1891
binding agent1933
tackifier1942
bonding1958
agglomerator1975
1849 Proc. Ohio Med. Convent. 41 Over every other adhesive, the Collodion in certain cases possesses one important advantage.
1912 Sci. Amer. 17 Aug. 144/3 Gluten, gum arabic, dextrine, are also..used, though their use is mainly that of simple adhesives.
1958 Observer 11 May 10/3 There is no universal adhesive. If the manufacturer claims that the adhesive is good for leather, it probably is. It's no good using it for a teacup handle.
2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 9 June 50/1 The resulting tape consisted of cotton duck covered by rubber-based adhesive on one side and polyethylene on the other.
b. Philately. Short for adhesive stamp n. at Compounds.
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society > communication > correspondence > postal services > payment for postage > [noun] > postage stamp
postage stamp1829
stamp1837
label1839
head1840
queen's head1840
postage label1852
adhesive1854
sticker1863
1854 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 25 Nov. 339/1 The ‘adhesives’ have occupied a vast amount of ingenuity in bringing them to perfection.
1881 Stamp-Collector's Ann. 9 The 5, 20, and 50 pf. adhesives have now followed the example of the 10 pf.
1893 H. Ewen (title) Priced catalogue of the used postage adhesives of Great Britain.
1921 Times 21 Feb. 13/1 Registered letters which reached London from Vladivostock last week were franked with Russian adhesives of the old régime.
1982 J. Mackay Guinness Bk. Stamps 48 A few instances of adhesives cancelled in both red and black Maltese Crosses are known.
1992 Gibbons Stamp Monthly Mar. 56/1 Regummed and cleaned stamps, covers with added adhesives and postmarks..the scope for fakery in the stamp world is immense.
Compounds
adhesive bandage n. = adhesive plaster n. (b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > equipment for treating wound or ulcer > [noun] > sticking-plaster
patch?c1425
sticking plaster1584
dry stitch1674
strap1749
sticking silk1766
court-plaster1773
adhesive bandage1797
strapping1818
adhesive1835
Band-Aid1924
Elastoplast1928
1797 G. Kellie Let. 23 Aug. in Annals Med. 1797 (1798) 2 ii. v. 272 The ulcer no way improved, the adhesive bandage was removed and applied every morning, with every possible precaution.
1863 Bull. N.Y. Acad. Med. Feb. 100 The wound was closed with sutures and adhesive bandage.
1922 W. Cather One of Ours v. xii. 403 M. Joubert, seeing Claude's ankle strapped up in adhesive bandages, began to chuckle.
2010 A. Leigh Billionaire's Baby Plan xiv. 206 Lisa stared at her arm, noticing for the first time the little adhesive bandage holding a wad of cotton in the fold of her elbow.
adhesive envelope n. an envelope having a flap coated with gum or with a layer of glue which becomes sticky when moistened.
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1847 Times 27 Feb. 11/1 A quire box of cream laid paper..and 24 adhesive envelopes to match.
1885 Truth 28 May 844/1 The danger of licking adhesive stamps and envelopes.
1919 I. Zangwill Jinny the Carrier 177 Will had broken open the high-class adhesive envelope and was already absorbed in the letter.
2007 W. M. Dale & W. S. Decker Crime Scene 68 Saliva from adhesive envelope flaps may contain DNA.
adhesive organ n. Zoology any of various structures, such as a sucker, by which an animal (esp. an aquatic invertebrate or a fish) can adhere to a surface.
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1806 E. Donovan Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes IV. Descr. Pl. LXXV. The lump sucker, which..they find abundantly common, attached under water to the rocks by means of their adhesive organ, or sucker.
1924 Ecology 5 146 This is an adhesive organ of considerable power, as shown by the strength with which nymphs adhere to rocks or aquaria.
1967 Exper. Parasitol. 21 388/1 Hydrolysis of host nervous tissue by the lappets and adhesive organ of the metacercaria of the strigeid Diplostomium phoxini.
2004 K. Schultz Field Guide Freshwater Fish 74 Each fry is born with an adhesive organ that it immediately uses to adhere to bottom vegetation.
adhesive plaster n. (a) a medicated paste containing one or more sticky ingredients, used as a poultice or to attach a dressing or bandage to the skin (now rare); (b) (in later use) material used to dress superficial wounds of the skin, consisting of fabric or (later) plastic spread with an adhesive substance; a strip, patch, etc., of such material, now esp. one incorporating a gauze dressing; also figurative; cf. sticking plaster n., Band-Aid n.
ΚΠ
1714 D. Turner De Morbis Cutaneis ii. ii. 146 If the Hair..lies in the Way, they are first of all to be taken away,..drawing them up all at once (tho' painfully) by a Pitch or other common adhesive Plaister.
1805 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 14 522 The wound of the integuments was contracted with strips of adhesive plaster.
1917 H. V. Arny Princ. Pharmacy (ed. 2) xxi. 341 Emplastrum belladonnæ... An adhesive plaster containing 30 per cent. of extract of belladonna leaves.
1970 T. Draper Rediscov. Black Nationalism xi. 175 Whether any ‘federalism’ could be much more than an adhesive plaster on a torn and bleeding body politic strikes me as very doubtful.
2002 D. Hart Crooked Cross Factor xv. 164 I put a hand up gingerly to the back of my head. Someone had stuck an adhesive plaster over the cut and bruised flesh.
adhesive stamp n. an adhesive postage stamp (as contrasted with one impressed on a card, wrapper, etc.); cf. postage stamp n. 1.
ΚΠ
1839 Times 29 July 6/3 The committee of stationers do not think it necessary to reply to Mr. Dickinson's objections to the use of adhesive stamps.
1881 Stamp-Collector's Ann. 9 The penny adhesive stamp of the new type..appeared on the 1st of January.
1907 Post Office Guide Jan. 139 Embossed or impressed postage stamps cut out of envelopes, post-cards, letter-cards, newspaper wrappers, or telegram forms may be used as adhesive stamps in payment of postage.
1946 Act 9 & 10 Geo. VI c. 67. 720 Contributions..are payable by means of adhesive stamps.
2007 Stamp & Coin Mart Jan. 4/2 Will this new E-volution in the way we shop for stamps impact on the demand for adhesive stamps?
adhesive tape n. a strip of paper, plastic, or film coated with adhesive, used to mask or insulate something, or to stick two things together.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > adhesive > [noun] > adhesive tape
adhesive tape1887
sticky tape1890
duck tape1899
passepartout1910
durex tape1932
Scotch tape1934
durex1938
Sellotape1949
duct tape1965
1887 Electrician 13 May 12 The armature core thus formed is covered over its entire surface with adhesive tape.
1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. (1893) xviii. 503 To insure the insulation of the magnet wire from the iron core of the magnet, the latter is covered upon the parts to be wound by adhesive tape.
1920 Education June 613 Any school room may be supplied with a sufficient amount of disinfectant, bandages and adhesive tape at a very slight expenditure.
1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 28/1 Seal the tin with adhesive tape.
2003 New Yorker 26 May 78/2 I carried a thick roll of Johnson & Johnson adhesive tape under the seat, for rainy day patch-ups.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1661