Portland cement

noun

Port·​land cement ˈpȯrt-lən(d)- How to pronounce Portland cement (audio)
variants or less commonly portland cement
: a cement (see cement entry 1 sense 1b) that sets under water and that is made by finely pulverizing the clinker produced by heating a mixture of clay and limestone or similar materials to a high temperature just short of fusing
Drexel engineers have found a way to improve upon ordinary Portland cement …, the glue that's bonded much of the world's construction since the late 1800s.Swiss National Science Foundation
Once the joints are open, refill them with a dry mix of stone dust and portland cement, mixed at a ratio of 1 part cement to 6 parts dust.This Old House

Examples of Portland cement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Ellis said Sublime Systems has done extensive testing on the durability of the product and expects, at scale, to be competitive with traditional Portland cement. Diana Olick, CNBC, 10 July 2024 The simple answer is that they are made of typical construction materials such as aggregates – soils and rocks – as well as asphalt binder and Portland cement, which act like glue to bond it all together. Mansour Solaimanian, The Conversation, 10 May 2024 Start by mixing equal parts Portland cement, perlite, and peat moss in a large plastic container. Kenneth Setzer, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024 Concrete resurfacers are basically Portland cement, sand and polymers. Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023 Most modern concrete starts with Portland cement, a powder made by heating limestone and clay to super-high temperatures and grinding them up. Maddie Burakoff, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2023 Concrete is basically a mixture of sand, gravel and Portland cement, plus water to make the mixture fluid enough to form and to trigger the chemical reaction that hardens the cement. Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2023 This biochar, created from two different temperatures, was then incorporated in various percentages into Portland cement as a replacement for fine aggregate (in this case natural sand). Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 24 Aug. 2023 Instead the mixes consist of just gravel and glue, either Portland cement or asphalt. Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 7 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Portland cement.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Isle of Portland, England; from its resemblance to a limestone found there

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Portland cement was in 1824

Dictionary Entries Near Portland cement

Cite this Entry

“Portland cement.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Portland%20cement. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

portland cement

noun
port·​land cement ˌpōrt-lən(d)- How to pronounce portland cement (audio)
ˌpȯrt-
: a cement made of clay and limestone
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