In a manner that sticks or bonds things together; with the quality of being sticky or holding fast.
From adhesive (Latin adhaerere, 'to stick to') + -ly (adverbial suffix). The Latin root ad- means 'to' and haerere means 'to stick,' so the word literally describes doing something in a sticking manner.
The word adhesively captures how some creatures in nature work—like how gecko feet use tiny hair-like structures to cling to walls adhesively, without any glue at all! This inspired scientists to create artificial adhesive surfaces.
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