What does mortar mean?
Word: Mortar
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Mortar means a paste of cement or lime, sand and water that builders spread between bricks to hold them together. A mortar is also a heavy bowl in which spices or grains are crushed with a pestle.
How do you spell mortar?
Syllables: mor - tar
Tricky part: Mortar has an r in each half, and in quick British speech both are almost silent, so children drop one (motar, morta).
Watch out for: motar, morta
Memory tip: Two halves, two r's: mortar keeps an r after the o and another at the very end.
Idioms and Phrases
- bricks and mortar: Buildings, or a real shop you can walk into, as opposed to one on the internet. Example: "The bookshop sells online but also has a bricks and mortar store in Leeds."
Mortar in a sentence
Example 1: The mason spread mortar on each brick before setting the next one.
Example 2: The old fort's walls were built with lime mortar.
Example 3: Rain washed some mortar out from between the old bricks.
Fun Fact
The builders of the Egyptian pyramids used a mortar made from gypsum.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
Mum pounds ginger and garlic with a heavy pestle in a stone ___.
a) mortar
b) sieve
c) ladle
d) colander
Show answer
a) mortar. A pestle always works with a mortar; a ladle, a colander and a sieve do other kitchen jobs.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) cellar
b) morter
c) pillar
d) nectar
Show answer
b) morter. Like cellar and pillar, mortar ends in ar.
Word Tally
Give 2 marks for each correctly spelt word. What is the total score?
cemant, mortar, plaster, brik, girder
a) 8
b) 6
c) 4
d) 10
Show answer
b) 6. Mortar, plaster and girder are right (3 x 2 = 6); cement and brick are misspelt.
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with mortar?
a) porter
b) quarter
c) reporter
d) starter
Show answer
d) starter. Starter has the ar sound of car; quarter, porter and reporter share the or sound of mortar.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What would most likely happen to a brick wall built with no mortar?
a) The bricks would become heavier.
b) The wall would dry faster.
c) The wall would keep out more rain.
d) The bricks could shift and fall.
Show answer
d) The bricks could shift and fall.
2. In 'a mortar and pestle', what is the pestle?
a) the heavy stick that does the crushing
b) the cloth that wipes the bowl
c) the stand that holds the bowl
d) the lid that covers the bowl
Show answer
a) the heavy stick that does the crushing
