Bandage vs. Plaster — What's the Difference?

A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly on a wound, and a bandage used to hold the dressing in place.

Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "render" commonly refers to external applications.

A strip of woven material used to bind up a wound or to protect an injured part of the body

A mixture of lime or gypsum, sand, and water, sometimes with fiber added, that hardens to a smooth solid and is used for coating walls and ceilings.

Bind (a wound or a part of the body) with a protective strip of material

Plaster of Paris.

A strip of material such as gauze used to protect, immobilize, compress, or support a wound or injured body part.

A pastelike mixture applied to a part of the body for healing or cosmetic purposes.

To apply a bandage to.

Chiefly British An adhesive bandage.

A strip of gauze or similar material used to protect or support a wound or injury.

To cover, coat, or repair with plaster.

A strip of cloth bound round the head and eyes as a blindfold.

To cover or hide with or as if with a coat of plaster

A provisional or makeshift solution that provides insufficient coverage or relief.

To apply a plaster to

To apply a bandage to something.

To cover conspicuously, as with things pasted on; overspread

A fillet or strip of woven material, used in dressing and binding up wounds, etc.

To affix conspicuously, usually with a paste

Something resembling a bandage; that which is bound over or round something to cover, strengthen, or compress it; a ligature.

To make smooth by applying a sticky substance

To bind, dress, or cover, with a bandage; as, to bandage the eyes.

To make adhere to another surface

A piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body

To inflict heavy damage or injury on.

Wrap around with something so as to cover or enclose

To defeat decisively.

Dress by covering or binding;

To apply plaster.

(uncountable) A paste applied to the skin for healing or cosmetic purposes.

A small adhesive bandage to cover a minor wound; a sticking plaster.

(uncountable) A mixture of lime or gypsum, sand, and water, sometimes with the addition of fibres, that hardens to a smooth solid and is used for coating walls and ceilings; render, stucco.

(countable) A cast made of plaster of Paris and gauze; a plaster cast.

(uncountable) plaster of Paris.

(transitive) To cover or coat something with plaster; to render.

(transitive) To apply a plaster to.

(transitive) To smear with some viscous or liquid substance.

(transitive) To hide or cover up, as if with plaster; to cover thickly.

To bombard heavily or overwhelmingly; to overwhelm with (weapons) fire.

To smooth over.

An external application of a consistency harder than ointment, prepared for use by spreading it on linen, leather, silk, or other material. It is adhesive at the ordinary temperature of the body, and is used, according to its composition, to produce a medicinal effect, to bind parts together, etc.; as, a porous plaster; sticking plaster.

A composition of lime, water, and sand, with or without hair as a bond, for coating walls, ceilings, and partitions of houses. See Mortar.

Calcined gypsum, or plaster of Paris, especially when ground, as used for making ornaments, figures, moldings, etc.; or calcined gypsum used as a fertilizer.

To cover with a plaster, as a wound or sore.

To overlay or cover with plaster, as the ceilings and walls of a house.

Fig.: To smooth over; to cover or conceal the defects of; to hide, as with a covering of plaster.

A mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings

Any of several gypsum cements; a white powder (a form of calcium sulphate) that forms a paste when mixed with water and hardens into a solid; used in making molds and sculptures and casts for broken limbs

A medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.

A hardened surface of plaster (as on a wall or ceiling);

Adhesive tape used in dressing wounds

Cover conspicuously, as by pasting something on;

Affix conspicuously;

Apply a plaster cast to;

Apply a heavy coat to

Coat with plaster;

Dress by covering with a therapeutic substance