pavement

American  

[peyv-muhnt] / ˈpeɪv mənt /

noun

1. a paved road, highway, etc.

2. a paved surface, ground covering, or floor.

3. a material used for paving.

4. Atlantic States and British. sidewalk.

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idioms

1. pound the pavement, to walk the streets in order to accomplish something.

   If you're going to find work you'd better start pounding the pavement.

pavement British  

/ ˈpeɪvmənt /

noun

1. US and Canadian word: sidewalk.  a hard-surfaced path for pedestrians alongside and a little higher than a road

2. a paved surface, esp one that is a thoroughfare

3. the material used in paving

4. civil engineering the hard layered structure that forms a road carriageway, airfield runway, vehicle park, or other paved areas

5. geology a level area of exposed rock resembling a paved road See limestone pavement

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pavement More Idioms  

1. see pound the pavement.

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Other Word Forms

• pavemental
  adjective
• prepavement
  noun
• subpavement
  noun

Etymology

Origin of pavement

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French < Latin pavīmentum. See pave, -ment

Explanation

Pavement is a hard surface that's covered in concrete or asphalt, like a road or a driveway. If you wipe out on your bike and land on the pavement, you may end up with skinned knees or scraped elbows. When pavement is newly surfaced or patched, it's smooth and even — but after a long, cold winter pavement is often full of potholes and cracks. In the US, pavement most often refers to a road or street, but it can also mean any paved surface, like a sidewalk or paved area in a park. The word has a Latin root, pavimentum, "level surface that's been beaten firm."

Example Sentences

Pavement parking is currently banned outright in London and Scotland, with councils elsewhere in England able to introduce restrictions for specific streets.

From BBC • Jan. 8, 2026

Pavement burned out like any other rock band, but a conventional rise-and-fall treatment wouldn’t suit them.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2025

Pavement parking is being permitted along one of Belfast city centre's busiest streets because of a lapse in legislation.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2024

It was incredible — like a lot of the indie stuff I was listening to, like Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement, but polished.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2024

The spot was long and shudderingly known in Andalusia by the name of the "Pavement of Martyrs."

From The Moors in Spain by Lane-Poole, Stanley

Related Words

• asphalt
• road
• sidewalk