Poultice vs. Plaster — What's the Difference?

A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds such as cuts.

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 soft moist mass of bread, meal, clay, or other adhesive substance, usually heated, spread on cloth, and applied to warm, moisten, or stimulate an aching or inflamed part of the body. Also called cataplasm.

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.

To apply a poultice to.

Plaster of Paris.

A soft, moist mass, usually wrapped in cloth and warmed, that is applied topically to a sore, aching or lesioned part of the body to soothe it.

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

A porous solid filled with solvent, used to remove stains from porous stone such as marble or granite.

Chiefly British An adhesive bandage.

(transitive) To treat with a poultice.

To cover, coat, or repair with plaster.

A soft composition, as of bread, bran, or a mucilaginous substance, to be applied to sores, inflamed parts of the body, etc.; a cataplasm.

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

To apply a poultice to; to dress with a poultice.

To apply a plaster to

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.

To cover conspicuously, as with things pasted on; overspread

Dress by covering with a therapeutic substance

To affix conspicuously, usually with a paste

To make smooth by applying a sticky substance

To make adhere to another surface

To inflict heavy damage or injury on.

To defeat decisively.

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