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Glite Dictionary
tarmacadam

tarmacadam

1 8.6
A road surface made from tar and small stones
  • noun
  • /ˌtɑːrməˈkædəm/
  • UK
translation icon : asfalto
  • After the rain, the tarmacadam road was smooth and easy to drive on.

Examples

  • The town decided to use tarmacadam for the new parking lot because it's durable and cost-effective.

  • MAN: Well, have you ever considered tarmacadam?

    The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

  • Ma'am, I was just telling your husband here about tarmacadam…

    The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

  • The car and its beds of tarmacadam possessed planners to trade in the boulevards of memory for cloverleaves and concrete ramps.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The construction crew laid a new layer of tarmacadam to improve the road's surface.

Synonyms

asphalt
vstarmacadam
56 3.9

A dark sticky material used to make roads and keep roofs dry

uses tar and crushed stone specifically rather than bitumen mixes
tarmac
vstarmacadam
41 3.3

A hard smooth surface or material made from tar and small stones used for roads and airports

is the technical material name for the same tar and crushed stone surface
paving
vstarmacadam
1 2.2

A hard surface, like a road, made for people and vehicles to move on

names a particular tar and crushed stone material rather than surfaces
paving material
vstarmacadam
  • Specialized
3.7

Material that covers roads or paths to make them firm and flat

is a specific tar and crushed stone material rather than any surfacing substance

How Smooth

tarmacadam
  • UK
1 8.6
asphalt
56 3.9
concrete
224 1.0
gravel
99 1.4
dirt
476 1.0

Surface Forms

tarmacadam singular
tarmacadams plural

Morphology

tarmacadam = tar + macadam (transparent) = tar + macadam

The word is a straightforward compound of 'tar' and 'macadam', so its meaning as a tarred road surface is directly recoverable from its parts.

Etymology

Tarmacadam joins tar ('a sticky black liquid used to seal') and macadam ('a road of crushed stone'), a name taken from the engineer McAdam. So, tarmacadam means crushed stone held together with tar, the hard surface used for roads and driveways.