- [uncountable]
a mixture of sand, water, lime and cement used in building for holding bricks and stones together 砂浆；灰浆 - [countable]
a heavy gun that fires bombs and shells high into the air; the bombs that are fired by this gun 迫击炮；迫击炮弹 to come under mortar fire/attack 受到迫击炮火的袭击
Extra ExamplesTopics War and conflictc2The occasional mortar burst near our truck. 偶尔有迫击炮弹在我们的卡车旁爆炸。 Their troops were armed with mortars and machine guns. 他们的军队装备有迫击炮和机关枪。 They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽。 We were under constant mortar fire. 我们遭到迫击炮的不断攻击。 hit by a mortar shell 被迫击炮弹击中 Two soldiers were killed when their patrol came under mortar fire. 两名士兵巡逻时遭遇迫击炮弹袭击身亡。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- heavy
- be armed with
- have
- fire
- …
- burst
- explode
- land
- …
- attack
- fire
- bomb
- …
- [countable]
a small hard bowl in which you can crush substances such as seeds and grains to make them into powder with a special object (called a pestle) 研钵；臼 
see also bricks and mortar
Word Originnoun sense 1 Middle English: from Old French mortier, from Latin mortarium, probably a transferred sense of the word denoting a container. noun senses 2 to 3 late Old English (in sense (3)), from Old French mortier, from Latin mortarium (to which the English spelling was later assimilated).