noun
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US and Canadian word: sidewalk. a hard-surfaced path for pedestrians alongside and a little higher than a road
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a paved surface, esp one that is a thoroughfare
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the material used in paving
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civil engineering the hard layered structure that forms a road carriageway, airfield runway, vehicle park, or other paved areas
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geology a level area of exposed rock resembling a paved road See limestone pavement
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Across the lot in an unused patch of pavement, pops of bright orange and yellow reach skyward toward the imposing barbed wire that’s laced atop metal security bars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Part of the pavement directly outside the former store will remain closed while remedial work continues.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Where possible, opt to walk on uneven surfaces, such as grass, sand or gravel, instead of pavement.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
The heat felt like 100 degrees radiating off the pavement.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
The workers had to stop two or three times because the wheels sank into the pavement.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
A giant guitar sculpture dominates the central square, guitar murals adorn walls and pavements and even the rubbish bins are shaped like guitars.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
You note that California’s new tire regulations are “perilous” because they may increase stopping distances on wet pavements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Paris was one of the first cities to adopt e-scooters, but growing concern about dangerous driving and obstructing pavements led to for-hire e-scooters being outlawed.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
AFP on Saturday saw migrant minors milling around in a disused industrial park in Ceuta, while others dozed on the pavements outside.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Instead I turn my gaze to the cracked pavements.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
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.
