Meaning & use
glueing
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“glueing” is a form of “glue”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
present participle of glue: fastening things together with a sticky liquid, or making something stay firmly in one place.
Grammar: As a participle it joins with be for continuous tenses: I am glueing. It can take an object, but also stands alone: the paper is glueing well.
Patterns
- be glueing something to/onto something
- be glueing something together
- be glueing something back on
She is glueing the broken handle back onto the cup.
The children are glueing pictures into their scrapbooks.
He was glueing the sole of his shoe with strong adhesive.
verbtransitivefigurative
present participle of glue: keeping your attention fixed on something without looking away.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase be glueing your eyes to something; the object is usually eyes or attention.
Patterns
- be glueing your eyes to something
- be glueing yourself to something
He was glueing his eyes to the screen all evening.
Fans were glueing themselves to the live stream during the final.
Word forms
| third person singular | glues |
|---|---|
| past tense | glued |
| past participle | glued |
| -ing form | gluing |
| -ing form (variant) | glueing |
Common combinations
- glueing something together
- We spent the afternoon glueing the model airplane together.
- glueing something onto something
- Stop glueing stickers onto your laptop lid.
- glueing the pieces back
- After the vase fell, she tried glueing the pieces back.
- glueing your eyes to something
- He sat glueing his eyes to the television during the match.
- busy glueing
- The kids were busy glueing paper flowers all morning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sticking
- Very close in everyday use, but sticking also covers tape, pins and other ways of fixing things, while glueing means using liquid adhesive specifically.
- pasting
- Suggests spreading a soft adhesive or paste, often for paper; glueing is the broader word for any glue.
- fixing
- Much more general: it can mean repairing or attaching in any way, not necessarily with glue.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: glueing or gluing? glueing or glewing?
glueing vs gluing
The usual spelling of the same form. Use gluing in most writing; glueing appears but is much less common.
glueing vs glewing
Not a real word — it is a misspelling that mixes glue with glew, an old past tense of glow.
Practice
Which sentence uses the correct standard spelling?
Choose one answer.
Gluing is the standard spelling because the e is dropped before -ing. Glueing is a rare variant, and the other two forms are not real words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “glueing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.