paste

Everyday

1. Paste is a soft, thick, wet mixture that you can spread, such as glue paste or tomato paste. tree →
2. Toothpaste is a paste for cleaning teeth. tree →
3. To paste something is to stick it onto something else with glue. tree →
4. On a computer, to paste is to put text or a picture that you copied or cut into a new place. tree →
5. Paste can also mean the dough that is rolled out to make pies and tarts. tree →

In the lessons

In art lessons pupils use paste to stick paper; in cooking a recipe may say «mix into a paste»; in computing «copy and paste» is a basic skill. Phrases: «copy and paste», «cut and paste», «paste it in», «wallpaper paste», «tomato paste».

Examples

• We used flour and water to make a paste for our papier-mâché. tree →
• Squeeze a pea-sized amount of toothpaste onto your brush. tree →
• Paste the picture into your scrapbook. tree →
• Select the sentence, copy it, then paste it into your story. tree →
• Mum stirred tomato paste into the sauce. tree →
• Grind the nuts until they become a smooth paste. tree →
• Don't copy and paste work from the internet and call it your own. tree →

Note

As a noun usually uncountable («some paste»), but «pastes» for kinds. Past form: «pasted». Do not confuse with «pasta» (Italian noodles) or «pastry» (dough for pies). Copying and pasting someone else's words without saying where they came from is cheating (plagiarism).