Tarmac

[tahr-mak]

Trademark.

1. a brand of bituminous binder, similar to tarmacadam, for surfacing roads, airport runways, parking areas, etc.

noun

1. (lowercase),  a road, airport runway, parking area, etc., paved with Tarmac, tarmacadam, or a layer of tar.

2. (lowercase),  a layer or covering of Tarmac, tarmacadam, or tar.

tarmac

/ ˈtɑːmæk /

noun

1. Full name: tarmacadam. a paving material that consists of crushed stone rolled and bound with a mixture of tar and bitumen, esp as formerly used for a road, airport runway, etc See also macadam

2. a runway at an airport

   on the tarmac at Nairobi airport

verb

1. (tr) (usually not capital) to apply tarmac to

Example Sentences

“I’ve had to run down here in the middle of the night,” De La Torre, 68, yelled as the engine of their propane-powered generator roared to life, a sound more suitable for an airport tarmac than a suburban frontyard.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Twelve years ago, coach Lane Kiffin was humiliated, fired by USC athletic director Pat Haden on an airport tarmac at 3 a.m. moments after the Trojans had flown in from Phoenix after getting crushed by Arizona State, 62-41.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

OK, so maybe it wasn’t the tarmac, maybe that’s just Trojan lore, maybe the abrupt firing took place in a small room next to the runway.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The organisation's founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said this treatment included being forced to wait for hours on the tarmac at the airport, being denied food provided by the group and "using every excuse in the book to prevent these passengers from disembarking".

Read more on BBC

When former President Bill Clinton made his way across the tarmac in Phoenix to say hello to Attorney General Loretta Lynch during his wife’s 2016 presidential campaign, it was a national story.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• airstrip 
• path 
• platform 
• ramp 
• road