pavement

[peyv-muhnt]

noun

1. a paved road, highway, etc.

2. a paved surface, ground covering, or floor.

3. a material used for paving. pave.

4. Atlantic States and British.,  sidewalk.

pavement

/ ˈpeɪvmənt /

noun

1. US and Canadian word: sidewalk. a hard-surfaced path for pedestrians alongside and a little higher than a road

2. a paved surface, esp one that is a thoroughfare

3. the material used in paving

4. civil engineering the hard layered structure that forms a road carriageway, airfield runway, vehicle park, or other paved areas

5. geology a level area of exposed rock resembling a paved road See limestone pavement

Other Word Forms

• pavemental adjective
• prepavement noun
• subpavement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pavement¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French < Latin pavīmentum. See pave, -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of pavement¹

C13: from Latin pavīmentum a hard floor, from pavīre to beat hard

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. pound the pavement, to walk the streets in order to accomplish something.

   If you're going to find work you'd better start pounding the pavement.

see pound the pavement.

Example Sentences

Strutter pointed to a heavy circular panel set in the pavement and said, “Lift that up.”

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Rough pavement or smooth; uphill or down; off camber or on; trail-braking into corners or powering out.

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"We have blood that still runs through our city pavements because no answers are being given."

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Saldivar was captured by television cameras sitting up on the pavement before being airlifted to a hospital, where he was in stable condition Tuesday.

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Prosecutors argued that a motorcycle traveling between traffic lanes at a high rate of speed easily could have plowed into freeway protesters who were sitting cross-legged on the pavement.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• asphalt 
• road 
• sidewalk