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reinforced concrete

reinforced concrete

5 3.7
A strong building material that has metal bars inside wet cement
  • noun
  • /ˌriːɪnˈfɔːrst kənˈkriːt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hormigón armado
  • In 1868, Joseph Monier from France patented the use of reinforced concrete to build pipes and tanks.
  • reinforced concrete structures
  • fiber-reinforced concrete
  • reinforced concrete bearing walls

Examples

  • According to the work order, that freezer has got 36 inches of steel reinforced concrete protecting it.

  • Now, the newest bank vaults have walls of reinforced concrete five feet thick, backed by six inches of steel.

  • Think of reinforced concrete, which is the greatest building material of the modern era.

  • The exterior walls are a good eight feet of reinforced concrete.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • It is constructed of reinforced concrete.

  • Specimens were cored from the large reinforced concrete block and subjected to laboratory testing.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Reinforced concrete in the garage absorbed most of the explosion, preventing what could have been a disaster from occurring as firefighters made a second sweep.

  • Ameron International furnished the reinforced concrete cylinder pipeline from its Tracy, California, plant.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The rigid reaction frame is anchored to a 6 ft (1.84 m) thick, strong reinforced concrete floor.

    Academic text (2017)
  • The bridge was constructed using reinforced concrete to withstand heavy traffic and harsh weather.

Synonyms

ferroconcrete
vsreinforced concrete
  • Specialized
7.1

Concrete that has metal bars inside to make it stronger

stresses lasting strength and durability rather than resistance to stress

Antonyms

83 3.4

Easily broken or damaged because it is not strong

1 5.0

Not made stronger by extra support or material

How Strong

reinforced concrete
  • Specialized
5 3.7
concrete
224 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

reinforced + concrete

The meaning is directly and compositionally derivable from 'reinforced' (made stronger) + 'concrete' (building material): it denotes concrete that has been strengthened, typically with metal, which B1 learners can infer. This construction and concept are common across languages and in everyday contexts, so a learner who knows both words will readily understand the phrase.

Etymology

The noun reinforced concrete comes from the idea that reinforced means 'made stronger' and that builders put metal bars or mesh inside concrete to do this. Think of the metal as a skeleton that stops cracks and helps a building 'last longer', so the phrase means concrete with metal inside to be 'stronger'.