concrete
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 artificial building or paving materials, as those containing tar.
an idea, observation, term, or word having an actual or existent thing or instance as its referent, as opposed to its being abstract: Psychology is all about feelings and behavior, but I’m more interested in the concrete—and that’s why I became a surgeon.
a mass formed by coalescence or concretion of particles of matter.
constituting an actual thing or instance; real: concrete proof of his sincerity.
relating 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;concrete lawn ornaments.
formed by coalescence of separate particles into a mass; united in a coagulated, condensed, or solid mass or state.
to treat or lay with concrete: to concrete a sidewalk.
to form into a mass by coalescence of particles; render solid: Of these two semiliquid solutions, which one do you think can be more easily concreted?
to make real, tangible, or particular.
to coalesce into a mass; become solid; harden: Has it started to concrete?
to use or apply concrete: We can’t begin concreting until all the forms have been installed.
Idioms about concrete
set / cast in concrete. stone (def. 33).
Origin of concrete
1Other words for concrete
Opposites for concrete
Other words from concrete
- con·crete·ly, adverb
- con·crete·ness, noun
- con·cre·tive, adjective
- con·cre·tive·ly, adverb
- un·con·crete, adjective
- un·con·crete·ly, adverb
- un·con·cret·ed, adjective
Words that may be confused with concrete
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use concrete in a sentence
The timing of when to open a highway depends on when the concrete mix is cured.
Smart Concrete Could Pave the Way for High-Tech, Cost-Effective Roads | Luna Lu | November 13, 2020 | Singularity HubSilver Line contractor pleads guilty to falsifying concrete quality testsThe company later settled a separate civil case brought by the Justice Department and the commonwealth of Virginia for $1 million.
Metro Silver Line contractor barred from seeking federal contracts for 3 years | Lori Aratani | November 4, 2020 | Washington PostAs far as concrete legislation reforming Section 230, recent efforts have been scattered.
This clip is all you need to know about the latest Congressional hearing on social media | Stan Horaczek | October 30, 2020 | Popular-ScienceOrganizers, activists, and advocates are offering many concrete policy recommendations across this country right now that could lead to prison industrial complex abolition.
What the public is getting right — and wrong — about police abolition | Fabiola Cineas | October 30, 2020 | VoxThe most concrete message out of all that communication is that existing Nest Secure users will have at least one more chance to stock up on hardware soon.
Google says it’s “committed” to Nest Secure but won’t ship any new features | Ron Amadeo | October 29, 2020 | Ars Technica
The concreteness of experience is infinite, the resources of the richest language are strictly limited.
Language | Edward SapirThe untruth of a painting or a photograph is that, in spite of its concreteness, it drops the element of natural succession.
Instigations | Ezra PoundThe elasticity, the concreteness, of your temperament fertilised the too-brooding introspectiveness of my own.
The History of Sir Richard Calmady | Lucas MaletOne likes a certain content or concreteness in the thinking process.
Letters from a Father to His Son Entering College | Charles Franklin ThwingIn such cases we may be sure that the principle of concreteness has not been sufficiently observed.
The Principles of Language-Study | Harold E. Palmer
British Dictionary definitions for concrete
/ (ˈkɒnkriːt) /
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
relating to a particular instance or object; specific as opposed to general: a 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
(tr) to construct in or cover with concrete
(kənˈkriːt) to become or cause to become solid; coalesce
Origin of concrete
1Derived forms of concrete
- concretely, adverb
- concreteness, noun
- concretive, adjective
- concretively, adverb
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
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