Definition of mortar in English

WordNet

Noun Plural: mortars
mortar - used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall
		building material material used for constructing buildings
mortar - a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range
		howitzer, trench mortar
mortar - a bowl-shaped vessel in which substances can be ground and mixed with a pestle
Verb mortars, mortaring, mortared
mortar - plaster with mortar; "mortar the wall"
		daub, plaster cover (a surface) by smearing (a substance) over it; "smear the wall with paint"; "daub the ceiling with plaster"
		masonry the craft of a mason

= synonym
= antonym
= related word

Wiktionary

mortar (Noun)
A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding bricks and stones.
mortar (Noun)
A muzzle-loading, indirect fire weapon with a tube length of 10 to 20 calibers and designed to lob shells at very steep trajectories.
mortar (Noun)
A hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle.
mortar (Verb)
To use mortar or plaster to join two things together.
mortar (Verb)
To fire a mortar.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

mortar (n.)
A strong vessel, commonly in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or rubbed with a pestle.
mortar (n.)
A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45¡, and even higher; -- so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.
mortar (n.)
A building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials; -- used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also for plastering, and in other ways.
mortar (v. t.)
To plaster or make fast with mortar.
mortar (n.)
A chamber lamp or light.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

mortar
Paste made of a mixture of a binder (cement, plaster or lime), sand and water used in masonry to make bricks, stones, etc. stick together.
mortar
A bowl used to crush and grind ingredients with a pestle.
mortar
An indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles.
mortar
To use mortar to bond objects together.
mortar
To fire a mortar (weapon).

Marine DictionaryUniversal Dictionary of the Marine ⚓️

mortar
a piece of artillery, shorter and wider than the cannon, and having a chamber different from the size of its bore.
Mortars are used in the attack of a fortified place, by sea, to discharge bombs or carcases amongst the buildings. The bomb is a great hollow ball, filled with powder, which, falling into the works of a fortification, &c. destroys the most substantial buildings by its weight; and, bursting asunder, creates the greatest disorder and mischief by its splinters.
The chambers of mortars are extremely different in their figures, and each of those figures is defended by better or worse arguments. Thus they are spherical, cylindrical, conical, bottled, or concave. In reality, nothing appears to be less determined upon true principles or experiments than the proportions of the several parts of a mortar[39].
As the sea-mortars, or those which are fixed in the bomb-vessels, are generally fixed at a much greater distance than is ever required ashore, they are made somewhat longer, and much heavier, than the land-mortars.
Plate VI. fig. 7. represents a sea-mortar, the principal parts of which are, A, the chace; B, the reinforce; C, the breech; and D, the trunnions. The interior part, comprehended between the dotted lines, is called the bore, wherein the bomb is lodged; and the inner part of the bore, which is diminished towards the breech, and contains the powder, is termed the chamber.
Mr. Muller, in his Treatise of Artillery, very justly observes, that the breech of our 13 inch sea-mortars is loaded with an unnecessary weight of metal. The chamber thereof contains 32 pounds of powder, and at the same time they are never charged with more than 12 or 15 pounds, by the most expert officers, because the bomb-vessel is unable to bear the violent shock of their full charge. Thus the action of the powder is diminished by the vacancy left in the chamber, which is never above half filled. As a charge of 12 or 15 pounds of powder at most is therefore sufficient, it is evidently proved, by the theory of powder, that this will produce the greatest effect when discharged from a mortar with a cylindrical chamber, represented by fig. 8. He also proves, by a variety of experiments made by Captain Desaguliers and himself, that the conical chamber, now used, is considerably inferior to the cylindrical one with the last charge of powder.
To facilitate the use of the mortar, it is placed in a solid carriage of timber, called the bed, whose different parts are strongly bolted together. By means of this it is firmly secured in its situation, so that the explosion of the powder may not alter its direction. In the middle of the upper-side of this carriage, plate VI. fig. 9. are two semi-circular notches, to receive the trunnions; over these are fixed two very strong bands of iron, called the cap-squares, a, the middle of which is bent into a semi-circle, to embrace the trunnions, and keep them fast in the mortar-bed. The cap-squares are confined to the timber-work by strong pins of iron, called the eye-bolts, b, into whose upper ends are driven the keys, chained beneath them. On the fore-part of the bed a piece of timber is placed transversely, upon which rests the belly of the mortar, or that part which contains the chamber. The elevation of this piece, which is called the bed-bolster, is represented by fig. 13. and the plan by fig. 12. it is used to elevate and support the mortar whilst firing.
These beds are placed upon very strong frames of timber, which are fixed in the bomb-ketch, and represented in fig. 14. plate VI. They are securely attached to the frames, by means of a strong bolt of iron, fig. 15. called the pintle, passing perpendicularly through both, and afterwards through one of the beams of the vessel. Thus the pintle, which passes through the hole in the centre of the plan, fig. 10. serves as an axis to the bed; so that the mortar may be turned about horizontally as occasion requires.
Plate VI. fig. 9. represents the elevation of the bed of a 10 inch sea-mortar; fig. 10 is the plan, and 11 the front view thereof; fig. 12 exhibits the plan, and fig. 13 the elevation of the bed-bolster.
We have already observed, that the bomb, which is usually called the shell by artillery-people, is a great hollow ball, charged with powder. Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the bomb, and fig. 17 a section of it, whereby the thickness is exhibited. The parts a and b of the shell are its handles, by which it is lifted up or removed; and c is the fuse-hole, or aperture, through which the powder is poured in to charge it.
It appears, by fig. 17, that the lower part of the shell is thickest, by which it becomes heavier on that side, and accordingly falls thereon, and never on the fuse. It is also the better enabled thereby to resist the impression of the powder, by which it is discharged from the mortar. Both of these reasons, however, Mr. Muller conceives to be immaterial, because nothing but an absolute stoppage of the air can exhaust the fuses, as their composition enables them to burn in water, as well as air or earth; and the explosion of the mortar would not, in his opinion, be able to break them, if they are equally thick every where. The most proper quantity of powder to charge a bomb is probably two thirds of the weight which would fill the cavity.
The fuse of the bomb is represented by c d, fig. 17. It is generally a conical tube, formed of beech, willow, or some dry wood, and filled with a composition of sulphur, salt-petre, and mealed-powder. The bomb being charged, this fuse is inserted in the cavity through the fuse-hole; and when fired, communicates the fire to the powder in the shell.
The fuses for bombs are charged with great care, that nothing may prevent them from communicating the fire to the powder in the centre of the bomb. They are driven into the shell so as that only about an inch and a half comes out beyond the fuse-hole; and then the shell is said to be fixed.
These fuses are also charged long before there is occasion to use them; and that the composition with which they are filled may not fall out, or be damaged, by growing damp, the two ends are covered with a composition of tallow, mixed either with pitch or bees wax. When the fuse is to be put into the shell, the little end is opened or cut off; but the great end is never opened till the mortar is to be fired[40].
When the proper quantity of powder, necessary to charge the mortar, is put into the chamber, it is covered with a wad, well beat down with the rammer. After this the fixed shell is placed upon the wad, as near the middle of the mortar as possible, with the fuse-hole uppermost, and another wad pressed down close upon it, so as to keep the shell firm in its position. The officer then points the mortar, or gives it the inclination necessary to carry the bomb to the place designed. When the mortar is thus fixed, the fuse is opened; the priming-iron is also thrust into the touch-hole of the mortar to clear it, after which it is primed with the finest powder. This done, two of the matrosses, or sailors, taking each one of the matches, the first lights the fuse, and the other fires the mortar. The bomb, thrown out by the explosion of the powder, is carried to the place intended; and the fuse, which ought to be exhausted at the instant of the shell’s falling, inflames the powder contained therein, and bursts the shell into splinters; which, flying off circularly, occasion incredible mischief wheresoever they reach.

Military DictionaryMilitary Dictionary and Gazetteer 💥

mortar
Short cannon for throwing shells, usually fired at angles from 45° to 60° elevation, called “vertical fire,” in contradistinction to the fire of long cannon, usually made at low angles. Mortars--so called from their similarity of form to the mortar for pulverizing, which has retained its familiar shape from the earliest ages--are believed to have been the first guns used, and, though changed from age to age frequently in form of chamber, size, and projectile, all ages have found them too useful in their special way to suppress or essentially alter them. The “Coehorn” mortar--so called from the famous Dutch engineer, Gen. Coehorn, who first proposed them in 1674--is to-day in use, of the same pattern and for the like service then suggested. Monster mortars have been constructed from time to time, in the hope of producing immense destruction in bombardments with single shells containing a large quantity of powder. The most recent of these, the monster mortar made by Mallet for the British government, weighing 114,000 pounds, with a bore of 36 inches and a shell of 2912 pounds, failed to be of any service. Perhaps the most unique mortars ever made were to be found in the island of Malta in the last century. The solid rock had been hollowed out into immense mortars, some of them 6 feet wide at the mouth. These tremendous fougasses (the proper term for them) were to be filled with stones, shells, and missiles of various kinds, to descend in a crushing shower upon an enemy attempting a landing. For different kinds of mortars now in use, see ORDNANCE.