paster

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableold-fashionedspecialist

   A person whose job is to stick pieces of paper, labels or cuttings onto something with glue or paste.

   Grammar: Names the worker: a paster in a bookbindery.

   Patterns

   • a paster at something

   The paster at the print shop glued the covers onto each ledger.

   In the old factory, a paster fixed a label to every jar by hand.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashionedtechnical

   A small slip of gummed paper or similar material stuck over a mistake or onto a surface, such as a correction label.

   Grammar: Often used in printing contexts: put a paster over the old date.

   Patterns

   • a paster over something

   The election office placed a paster over the wrong name on the ballot.

   A small paster covered the misprinted price.

3. 3nouncountabletechnical

   A tool or machine that applies paste or glue to paper or other material.

   Grammar: Used in industrial settings: the paster runs along the roll.

   The paster joined the new roll of paper to the old one without stopping the press.

   They replaced the old paster with an automatic gluing unit.

Word forms

Common combinations

paster machine

The paster machine glued the labels in neat rows.

label paster

She worked as a label paster before the factory was automated.

cover with a paster

They covered the error with a paster before reprinting.

paster in a bindery

His grandfather was a paster in a bindery.

Synonyms and how they differ

gluer

Gluer is a plain word for someone who glues things, with none of the print-trade flavor of paster.

sticker

A sticker is the adhesive label itself, whereas a paster can be the worker or the slip used to cover a mistake.

patch

Patch covers any repair piece, while paster is specific to gummed paper slips.

Word family

paste verb

to stick something with glue

paste noun

a sticky mixture used to fasten things

pasting noun

the act of fixing something with paste

pasteboard noun

stiff board made of pasted layers of paper

Commonly confused: paster or pastor?

Practice

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