concrete
[kon-kreet, kong-, kon-kreet, kong- for 1–10, 13–15; kon-kreet, kong- for 11, 12]
- constituting an actual thing or instance; real: a concrete proof of his sincerity.
- pertaining to or concerned with realities or actual instances rather than abstractions; particular (opposed to general): concrete ideas.
- representing or applied to an actual substance or thing, as opposed to an abstract quality: The words “cat,” “water,” and “teacher” are concrete, whereas the words “truth,” “excellence,” and “adulthood” are abstract.
- made of concrete: a concrete pavement.
- formed by coalescence of separate particles into a mass; united in a coagulated, condensed, or solid mass or state.
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- an artificial, stonelike material used for various structural purposes, made by mixing cement and various aggregates, as sand, pebbles, gravel, or shale, with water and allowing the mixture to harden.Compare reinforced concrete.
- any of various other artificial building or paving materials, as those containing tar.
- a concrete idea or term; a word or notion having an actual or existent thing or instance as its referent.
- a mass formed by coalescence or concretion of particles of matter.
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- to treat or lay with concrete: to concrete a sidewalk.
- to form into a mass by coalescence of particles; render solid.
- to make real, tangible, or particular.
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- to coalesce into a mass; become solid; harden.
- to use or apply concrete.
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- set/cast in concrete, to put (something) in final form; finalize so as to prevent change or reversal: The basic agreement sets in concrete certain policies.
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Origin of concrete
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
1, 2. abstract.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
detailedrealsolidmaterialspecificparticularobjectivefirmcompactinduratesetpetrifieddriedcakedsolidifiedconsolidatedpouredcalcifiedcongealedcementedExamples from the Web for concrete
Contemporary Examples
As a writer, I tried mainly to stick close to the concrete particulars of the events and the performances I was describing.
It was the most common and concrete opportunity to do unto others as you would wish to have done unto you.
D.C., but it is not likely to result in any concrete and meaningful action.
When they are full, many landfills are capped—covered with asphalt or concrete.
The concrete building from which the sounds emanate shakes from the impact, rattling the colorful houses on the dirt roads nearby.
Historical Examples
For instance, take a concrete case; so best can we illustrate.
'Tis Sixty Years SinceCharles Francis Adams
In other words, and to be concrete, put these things in the car while I fold the blanket.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
Their front is one unbroken wall of sheet iron and concrete.
The HarborErnest Poole
This third line of trenches was protected with armor plate and concrete.
And the bridges are not of iron and concrete, but of rainbows and––moonshine!
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
concrete
- a construction material made of a mixture of cement, sand, stone, and water that hardens to a stonelike mass
- (as modifier)a concrete slab
- physics a rigid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particles
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- relating to a particular instance or object; specific as opposed to generala concrete example
- relating to or characteristic of things capable of being perceived by the senses, as opposed to abstractions
- (as noun)the concrete
- formed by the coalescence of particles; condensed; solid
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- (tr) to construct in or cover with concrete
- (kənˈkriːt) to become or cause to become solid; coalesce
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin concrētus grown together, hardened, from concrēscere; see concrescence
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for concrete
adj.
late 14c., "actual, solid," from Latin concretus "condensed, hardened, thick, hard, stiff, curdled, congealed, clotted," figuratively "thick; dim," literally "grown together;" past participle of concrescere "to grow together," from com- "together" (see com-) + crescere "to grow" (see crescent). A logicians' term until meaning began to expand 1600s. Noun sense of "building material made from cement, etc." is first recorded 1834.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
concrete
(kŏn-krēt′, kŏn′krēt′)- Relating to an actual, specific thing or instance; particular.
- Existing in reality or in real experience; perceptible by the senses; real.
- Relating to a material thing or group of things as opposed to an abstraction.
- Formed by the coalescence of separate particles or parts into one mass; solid.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.