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reinforced concrete

American  

noun

  1. concrete containing steel bars, strands, mesh, etc., to absorb tensile and shearing stresses.


reinforced concrete British  

noun

  1. concrete with steel bars, mesh, etc, embedded in it to enable it to withstand tensile and shear stresses

"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

Etymology

Origin of reinforced concrete

First recorded in 1900–05

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:

Across volatile regions, some critical infrastructure, like desalination plants and data centers, will need to be fortified with layers of reinforced concrete, duplicated to provide backups or potentially relocated underground—at significant cost.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 4, 2026

Some visually appealing examples are known as shells, and these have traditionally been made from reinforced concrete.

From Science Daily Dec. 5, 2025

That likely indicates that even though the US used multiple bombs, the Iranians used enough reinforced concrete to keep them from reaching the main hall and destroying the machinery inside.

From BBC Jun. 25, 2025

“If it was a solid, reinforced concrete column ... supporting the bridge, it probably wouldn’t have collapsed in this case,” Dowell added, even without a proper bumper.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 26, 2024

The coast guard lighthouse on the rocks at Point White was a tower built out of reinforced concrete that rose a hundred feet above the sea.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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