macadam
[muh-kad-uh m]
- a macadamized road or pavement.
- the broken stone used in making such a road.
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Origin of macadam
1815–25; named after J. L. McAdam (1756–1836), Scottish engineer who invented it
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for macadam
Contemporary Examples
Cool, dry weather; relatively but not totally flat terrain; soft running surfaces, like dirt, gravel or macadam.
Historical Examples
They are used as dust layers on earth, gravel and macadam surfaces.
American Rural HighwaysT. R. Agg
MacAdam asked that he should at least be bound over to keep the peace.
Ireland as It IsRobert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Utilitarianism was too much for it, and its stones fell to Macadam.
Highways & Byways in SussexE.V. Lucas
They gained the macadam of the lane that led out from the park gate into the country.
StubbleGeorge Looms
Some wonderful records were made in these contests on the macadam.
Coaching Days & WaysE. D. (Edward William Dirom) Cuming
macadam
- a road surface made of compressed layers of small broken stones, esp one that is bound together with tar or asphalt
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Word Origin
C19: named after John McAdam (1756–1836), Scottish engineer, the inventor
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 macadam
n.
1824, named for inventor, Scottish civil engineer John L. McAdam (1756-1836), who developed a method of levelling roads and paving them with gravel and outlined the process in his pamphlet "Remarks on the Present System of Road-Making" (1822). Originally, road material consisting of a solid mass of stones of nearly uniform size laid down in layers; he did not approve of the use of binding materials or rollers. The idea of mixing tar with the gravel began 1880s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper