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Glite Dictionary
🛣️ A road material 🚧 To cover with tar
to asphalt

to asphalt

1 4.3
To cover a road or surface with the dark sticky material used on roads
  • verb
  • /ˈæsfɔlt/
translation icon : asfaltar
  • They decided to asphalt the walkway to prevent mud from accumulating during rainy days.

Examples

  • The crew will asphalt the parking lot next week to provide a smooth surface for cars.

  • A 150-foot by 180-foot source-separated composting area was constructed with a one percent slope and asphalted on a section of the landfill not far from the fiber cake windrows.

    Academic text (1996)

  • To improve accessibility, the city plans to asphalt the roads in the neighborhood this summer.

Synonyms

to pave
vsto asphalt
61 2.8

To cover a road or path with hard material so it is smooth for cars and people

refers to using a particular road binder rather than any hard material
to blacktop
vsto asphalt
  • US
4.0

To cover a road or driveway with black paving material to make it smooth

is about using a specific road binder rather than general dark binders
to tarmac
vsto asphalt
  • UK
6.6

To cover a road or path with tar and small stones to make it smooth

focuses on using the named road binder instead of a crushed stone layer

How Smooth

to asphalt
1 4.3
to pave
61 2.8
to gravel
1 4.7

Surface Forms

asphalt infinitive
asphalted past
asphalted past participle
asphalting present participle
asphalts third person singular

Etymology

Asphalt (verb) comes from the same Greek asphaltos, meaning 'firm' or 'stable', because the name was used for the sticky, hard material. So to asphalt a road is simply to cover it with that firm, waterproof material.