asphalt
Americannoun
-
any of various dark-colored, solid, bituminous substances, native in various areas of the earth and composed mainly of hydrocarbon mixtures.
-
a similar substance that is the by-product of petroleum-cracking operations.
-
a mixture of such substances with gravel, crushed rock, or the like, used for paving.
verb (used with object)
-
asphalts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
asphalted,
past participle, past
-
asphalting
present participle
adjective
noun
-
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
-
a mixture of this substance with gravel, used in road-surfacing and roofing materials
-
(modifier) containing or surfaced with asphalt
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
asphaltsimple
-
asphaltssimple
-
have asphaltedperfect
-
has asphaltedperfect
-
am asphaltingprogressive
-
are asphaltingprogressive
-
is asphaltingprogressive
-
have been asphaltingperfect progressive
-
has been asphaltingperfect progressive
Past
-
asphaltedsimple
-
had asphaltedperfect
-
was asphaltingprogressive
-
were asphaltingprogressive
-
had been asphaltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of asphalt
1275–1325; earlier asphaltos, -um < Latin < Greek ásphaltos, -on, akin to asphalízein to make firm, to secure; replacing Middle English aspaltoun ≪ Greek ásphalton
Explanation
Asphalt is the black, tarry material that's often used to pave roads or fill in potholes. Your neighbor might decide to coat his driveway in asphalt. Asphalt is a popular substance for paving roads, parking lots, and even airport runways, because it's sturdy and easy to repair. When old asphalt roads are torn up or repaved, the asphalt can be reused in new highway or road projects. Asphalt is usually manufactured from oil, or petroleum, but there are more ecologically friendly ways to make it, including using molasses, rice, or potato starch.
Vocabulary lists containing asphalt
Black and Gray
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Thing About Jellyfish
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 3
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Restaurants lucky enough to face freed asphalt push their patios past the curb.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
It “addresses the effects of concrete, asphalt and other impervious surfaces that cover the urban landscape in these two watersheds, to protect water quality in the creeks, rivers and beaches downstream,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Dorr was inspired by his wife, Nell, a renowned photographer, who was tired of riding shotgun and craning her neck out the window to see where the asphalt ended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Pets are also at risk, with authorities recommending dogs remain indoors except for bathroom breaks, and warning owners to watch for hot asphalt that can burn paws.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
That’s when Annabelle smells it—that wet asphalt, damp-earth smell.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
He also is developing what he says should be more-affordable pothole-resistant pavements, using non-petroleum "bio asphalts" derived from waste materials such as corn stalks and switch grass.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2010
Quite a rise in the world for a little girl who had once lived in a shabby apartment in New York and run barefooted on the wet asphalts, summer nights!
From The Place of Honeymoons by Arthur Ignatius Keller
The asphalts, then, have a common history in this, that they are produced by the evaporation and oxidation of petroleum.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 362, December 9, 1882 by Various
Such mixtures differ in degree only from the mixtures used for asphalt street paving, for discussion of which the various books on paving and asphalts should be consulted.
From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Halbert Powers Gillette
Fillers.—Fillers are solid asphalts or tars that are used for filling expansion joints in rigid pavements and for filling the spaces between the blocks in brick, wood block and stone block pavements.
From American Rural Highways by T. R. (Thomas Radford) Agg
"For some reason," a deputy writes, "Brunner believes the asphalted driveway … is now his property."
From Salon ● Nov. 17, 2022
The next day, traffic flowed over the newly asphalted road, and life in the capital had returned to near normal.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2022
The asphalted road over the pass, called CG-2, connects El Pas de la Casa with the rest of the country.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 11, 2021
Starting with Chinatown, earthen basements were concreted, concrete ones flooded with carbolic acid, walls washed with lye, streets asphalted, cesspools filled and decrepit dwellings demolished.
From Nature ● Apr. 23, 2019
Our town recently received an innovation in the shape of a splendidly asphalted street, and one very hot day, shortly after its completion, Goliath drove up to the door of the hardware store with Scratchbones.
From Harper's Round Table, July 23, 1895 by Various
The BR-163 connects the agricultural powerhouse state of Mato Grosso to the Amazon ports Miritituba and Santarém, and in November the army finished asphalting its last unpaved section.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 10, 2020
At the Arena Amazonia, where England will play their opening game against Italy on Saturday, workers are still asphalting the ground outside the stadium, fitting doors and fixing power cables in the changing room.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 11, 2014
"We are happy and thankful to the foreigners for asphalting the 100km Ghorband-Kabul road," says Haji Ahmad, a truck driver from Shinwari.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2012
I had also warned him to look out for, and he succeeded in finding, beds of bitumen permeated with petroleum: this material will prove valuable for fuel and for asphalting, if not for sale.
From To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II A Personal Narrative by Sir Richard Francis Burton
To remedy this, the asphalting was taken up and a Nicholson wood pavement was put down.
From The Enchanted Typewriter by John Kendrick Bangs
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.
