road metal

American  

noun

British.

1. broken stone, cinders, etc., used for making roads.

---

road metal British  

noun

1. crushed rock, broken stone, etc, used to construct a road

---

Etymology

Origin of road metal

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

I had a medium-brown driveway that used chert road metal from the Meramec River region in Missouri.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 19, 2023

They have then only to remove the top surface of road metal and the concrete cover in order to expose the pipe and get at the breach.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various

If the road metal be of soft material which wears easily, it will require constant supervision and small repairs whenever a rut or depression may appear.

From The Future of Road-making in America by Hulbert, Archer Bulter

Flints from the chalk are used for road metal and concrete, and have been employed in building as a facing for walls.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

Part of the track on this high ground is still called Erming Street by the country folk; part is known as Pebble Lane, where the old Roman road metal has come through.

From Highways and Byways in Sussex by Griggs, Frederick Landseer Maur