paste

1 of 3

noun

ˈpāst 

1

a

: a dough that contains a considerable proportion of fat and is used for pastry crust or fancy rolls

b

: a confection made by evaporating fruit with sugar or by flavoring a gelatin, starch, or gum arabic preparation

c

: a smooth food product made by evaporation or grinding

tomato paste

almond paste

d

: a shaped dough (such as spaghetti or ravioli) prepared from semolina, farina, or wheat flour

2

: a soft plastic mixture or composition: such as

a

: a preparation usually of flour or starch and water used as an adhesive or a vehicle for mordant or color

b

: clay or a clay mixture used in making pottery or porcelain

3

: a brilliant glass of high lead content used for the manufacture of artificial gems

paste

2 of 3

verb (1)

pasted; pasting; pastes

transitive verb

1

: to cause to adhere by or as if by paste : stick

pasted the photos into the scrapbook

2

: to cover with something pasted on

The entire wall was pasted with posters.

3

: to put (digital data, such as text or an image) that has been copied or cut from one document or app into another part of the document or into another document or app

paste the image into an email or text

Don't copy and paste recipes out of an existing … blog or website. If you've adjusted an existing recipe, making it your own with significant modifications, be sure to give credit to the source of the original recipe.

—The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington)

paste

3 of 3

verb (2)

pasted; pasting; pastes

transitive verb

1

: to strike hard at

2

: to beat or defeat soundly

pasted their opponents 42–0

Did you know?

We're not talking about adhesives here: the paste of interest here came to be as an alteration of the word baste, which means "to beat severely or soundly." (This baste is unrelated to the two distinct baste homographs that mean "to sew with long stitches" and "to moisten while cooking.") The exact origin of baste is uncertain, but it probably comes from the Old Norse word beysta, meaning "to bruise, thrash, or flog." Baste was first seen in the 16th century, but paste didn't turn up in print until the mid-19th century, and it only recently acquired its "defeat" sense. Baste is now less popular than paste, though its relative lambaste ("to beat" or "to censure") is prevalent.

Synonyms

Verb (2)

• annihilate
• blow away
• bomb
• bury
• clobber
• cream
• drub
• dust
• flatten
• rout
• shellac
• skin
• skunk
• smoke [slang]
• smother
• snow under
• thrash
• trim
• tromp
• trounce
• wallop
• wax [slang]
• whip
• whomp
• whop
• whap
• whup

Examples of paste in a Sentence

Noun

Stir the flour and water to a paste.

The children used paste and construction paper to make Mother's Day cards.

a cake with an almond paste filling

Stir the ingredients to form a paste.

Verb (2)

with the economy having gone south, it was hardly surprising that the incumbent party got pasted in the general election

pasted the soccer ball halfway across the field

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The company also makes a chili-garlic sauce and a ground chili paste called sambal oelek, both of which will also be affected by the production halt, USA Today reported. —Marisa Gerber, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2024

This recipe, from chef Donnie Masterton, focuses on just the pineapple, slathered with al pastor paste and roasted. —Kara Peeler, Sunset Magazine, 7 May 2024

Our top picks make quick work of tough stains like tomato paste, soda, and crayon. —Quincy Bulin, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 May 2024

The male primate applied a paste made from the poultice plant on his cheek, eventually closing the large wound up, according to research published Thursday at the Scientific Reports journal. —Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024

The five-fingered flaky treats filled with almond paste, fixtures in doughnut shops and hotels across the United States today, are believed to have be adapted from a Danish pastry called a kam in the early 20th century. —Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 2 May 2024

After peeling and chopping the root, blitz it with a splash of water in a blender to make a runny paste. —Romy Gill, Saveur, 24 Apr. 2024

Whenever some paste was needed, a handful would be pulled away, soaked and strained. —Madhur Jaffrey, The New Yorker, 22 Apr. 2024

Kelly last week also vetoed a measure that would have exempted sugaring – a method of temporary hair removal using a paste made from sugar, lemon and water to pull hair out of follicles – from the definition of cosmetology. —Jenna Barackman, Kansas City Star, 15 Apr. 2024

Verb

In trying to call Hamas’s bluff, the people informed on the talks said, the Israelis virtually cut and pasted some of the language from a Hamas proposal in March and put it into theirs. —Peter Baker, New York Times, 7 May 2024

Financial regulators permanently banned the accounting firm that the parent company of Donald Trump’s media platform hired in an enforcement action after an investigation revealed that the firm wasn’t really conducting audits and instead just pasted old work into new papers and forged the date. —Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 6 May 2024

The feature builds off of Visual Lookup in iOS 16, which gave you the ability to cut and copy a subject from a photo and then paste it into a conversation via Messages. —Brenda Stolyar, WIRED, 2 May 2024

Groove audio editing maintains relevant grid positions when copying, cutting, and pasting unquantized audio and MIDI clips. —PCMAG, 1 May 2024

All a Cigna doctor had to do was cut and paste the denial language that the nurse had prepared and quickly move on to the next case, Day said. —Patrick Rucker, ProPublica, 29 Apr. 2024

Of all the things to emulate, to copy and paste from the internet, eternal love seems like a pretty good option. —Isabelle Stillman, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Open a new chat window and paste your text back in. —Jodie Cook, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024

Another cuts and pastes her face next to a noose and a smiley face. —Daniel Klaidman, CBS News, 2 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin pasta dough, paste

Verb (2)

alteration of baste

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

circa 1562, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing paste

• choux paste
• copy and paste
• cut-and-paste
• hard-paste porcelain
• library paste
• miso paste
• pre-paste
• scissors-and-paste
• soft-paste porcelain

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Kids Definition

paste

1 of 3 noun

ˈpāst 

1

a

: a dough rich in fat used for pastry

b

: a candy made by evaporating fruit with sugar or by flavoring a gelatin, starch, or gum arabic preparation

c

: a smooth food product made by evaporation or grinding

almond paste

2

: a preparation of flour or starch and water used for sticking things together

3

: a soft plastic substance or mixture

4

: a very brilliant glass used for artificial gems

paste

2 of 3 verb

pasted; pasting

1

: to stick on or together by paste

2

: to cover with something pasted on

3

: to put (something cut or copied from a computer document) into another part of the document or into another document

paste

3 of 3 verb

pasted; pasting

: to hit hard

Etymology

Noun

Middle English paste "pastry dough," from early French paste (same meaning), from Latin pasta "paste, dough"

Verb

an altered form of earlier baste "to hit, beat"

Medical Definition

paste

noun

ˈpāst 

: a soft plastic mixture or composition

especially : an external medicament that has a stiffer consistency than an ointment and is less greasy because of its higher percentage of powdered ingredients