bitumen
Americannoun
-
any of various natural substances, as asphalt, maltha, or gilsonite, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons.
-
(formerly) an asphalt of Asia Minor used as cement and mortar.
noun
-
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
-
the constituents of coal that can be extracted by an organic solvent
-
any liquid suitable for coating aggregates
-
-
informal any road with a bitumen surface
-
informal (capital) the road in the Northern Territory between Darwin and Alice Springs
-
-
a transparent brown pigment or glaze made from asphalt
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
Elastic Bitumen, Elaterite, or Mineral Caoutchouc, an elastic mineral bitumen of a blackish-brown colour, and subtranslucent.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 2: Ebert to Estremadura by Various
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.
