gluenoun/ɡluː/

• 1

  A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.

  • Near-synonyms: adhesive, cement
  • 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.
• 2

  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.
  • 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.
• 3

  biologybotanynatural-sciencesA viscid secretion on the surface of certain plants.

glueverb/ɡluː/

• 1

  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.
• 2

  To cause something to adhere closely to; to cause to follow attentively.

  • His eyes were glued to the screen.
  • So as I lay on the ground with my ear glued close against the wall, who should march round the church but John Trenchard, Esquire, not treading delicately like King Agag, or spying, but just come on a voyage of discovery for himself.
• 3

  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.
  • 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.