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Synonyms

bitumen

American  
[bahy-too-muhn, -tyoo-, bih-, bich-oo-] / baɪˈtu mən, -ˈtyu-, bɪ-, ˈbɪtʃ ʊ- /

noun

  1. any of various natural substances, as asphalt, maltha, or gilsonite, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons.

  2. (formerly) an asphalt of Asia Minor used as cement and mortar.

bitumen British  
/ ˈbɪtjʊmɪn, bɪˈtjuːmɪnəs /

noun

  1. any of various viscous or solid impure mixtures of hydrocarbons that occur naturally in asphalt, tar, mineral waxes, etc: used as a road surfacing and roofing material

  2. the constituents of coal that can be extracted by an organic solvent

  3. any liquid suitable for coating aggregates

    1. informal any road with a bitumen surface

    2. informal (capital) the road in the Northern Territory between Darwin and Alice Springs

  5. a transparent brown pigment or glaze made from asphalt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bitumen Scientific  
/ bĭ-to̅o̅′mən /

  1. Any of various flammable mixtures of hydrocarbons and other substances found in asphalt and tar. Bitumens occur naturally or are produced from petroleum and coal.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of bitumen

1425–75; late Middle English bithumen < Latin bitūmen

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Bitumen is too thick to be pumped through a pipeline, so it has to be mixed with other hydrocarbons to thin it out, producing diluted bitumen.

From The Guardian • Aug. 30, 2018

Bitumen, a cover-all term, was prized for its tawny glow, but the popularity of the pigment had much to do with the nineteenth-century taste for the Oriental macabre.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 27, 2018

Bitumen is one of the most energy-intensive oils to produce, and carbon-polluting to burn.

From Seattle Times • May 29, 2018

Bitumen capacities at Firebag and MacKay River are 203,000 and 38,000 barrels per day, respectively, and the base plant upgrader facility's capacity is 350,000 barrels a day, Suncor said.

From Reuters • May 29, 2016

She had far exceeded that, for she had found and mounted every specimen of plant and flower that grew for miles around Bitumen.

From Elizabeth Hobart at Exeter Hall by Vosburgh, R. G.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.