asphalt

[as-fawlt, -falt]

noun

1. any of various dark-colored, solid, bituminous substances, native in various areas of the earth and composed mainly of hydrocarbon mixtures.

2. a similar substance that is the by-product of petroleum-cracking operations.

3. a mixture of such substances with gravel, crushed rock, or the like, used for paving.

verb (used with object)

1. to cover or pave with asphalt.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or containing asphalt.

   asphalt tile.

asphalt

/ -fɔːlt, ˈæʃ-, ˈæsfælt /

noun

1. any of several black semisolid substances composed of bitumen and inert mineral matter. They occur naturally in parts of America and as a residue from petroleum distillation: used as a waterproofing material and in paints, dielectrics, and fungicides

2. a mixture of this substance with gravel, used in road-surfacing and roofing materials

3. (modifier) containing or surfaced with asphalt

verb

1. (tr) to cover with asphalt

asphalt

1. A thick, sticky, dark-brown mixture of petroleum tars used in paving, roofing, and waterproofing. Asphalt is produced as a byproduct in refining petroleum or is found in natural beds.

Other Word Forms

• asphaltic adjective
• asphaltlike adjective
• unasphalted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of asphalt¹

1275–1325; earlier asphaltos, -um < Latin < Greek ásphaltos, -on, akin to asphalízein to make firm, to secure; replacing Middle English aspaltoun ≪ Greek ásphalton

Word History and Origins

Origin of asphalt¹

C14: from Late Latin aspaltus, from Greek asphaltos, probably from _a- ¹ + sphallein to cause to fall; referring to its use as a binding agent

Example Sentences

Instead, they had to pay upward of tens of thousands of dollars to fix damaged septic systems, reinstall their own power poles and repave the asphalt melted from private roads.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Even then, the firm could remove only a small portion of the parking lot’s asphalt, lest they trigger local low-impact development codes.

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Otherwise, they work out in their weight room or asphalt next to the school parking lot.

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If you were to grab a section of the grounds at random, odds are you would be pulling up a chunk of hot asphalt or stiff-bladed grass.

Read more on Salon

The contest unfolds in broad daylight as cameras and soldiers turn the asphalt into an arena.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blacktop