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

In a ritual unseen by the cameras, volunteers heave the floating icons toward the asphalt.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The car came careening down Sepulveda Boulevard, collided into Braun Levi and sent the Loyola High School tennis star flying through the air before he slammed into the asphalt.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Outside, the asphalt was rolling and heaving. ‘Asphalt waves,’ I thought when I saw it.”

Read more on Literature

But inside the car, I steadily fed it power as I careened into the seemingly endless Turn 3, and felt it practically eat up asphalt through a slightly winding Turn 9.

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In November 2024, a Navy contractor was grinding asphalt on the site — a construction project that, while unrelated to the site’s historical contamination, triggered the Navy to monitor for any air quality issues.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blacktop