The adhesive is known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste and is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.

The use of adhesives offers certain advantages over other binding techniques such as sewing, mechanical fastenings or welding.

These include the ability to bind different materials together, the more efficient distribution of stress across a joint, the cost-effectiveness of an easily mechanized process and greater flexibility in design.