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• Tarmac
  Tarmac

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

  noun

  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

Tarmac

American  

[tahr-mak] / ˈtɑr mæk /

Trademark.

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

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

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

Explanation

If your airplane is on the tarmac, that means you're either just about to take off or you've just landed. Either way, the tarmac is the paved runway at the airport. The term tarmac refers to the area of an airport where airplanes taxi, or pull up to a gate, or head out to the runway. The runway itself is also called the tarmac. The name comes from a specific tar-based paving material that's also commonly used on roads. Originally, the word was trademarked as shorthand for tarmacadam, "tar mixed with crushed rock."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tarmac tarmac

In a brief Tarmac Q&A with traveling press on Thursday—a minimal effort to relieve growing tensions about her availability—Harris said that she wants “to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.”

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2024

Some activists glued themselves to the Tarmac, while another stuck himself to a police car on 29 September.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2022

You go on a fresh Tarmac road in a lot of countries in West Africa indeed, and they say, “Yeah, China came in and has paved the highway system”.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 23, 2017

Tarmac softens in hot weather which would likely cause a heavy airplane to sink into it.

From Forbes ● Sep. 18, 2014

Tarmac The line of departure on the field.

From Aces Up by Covington Clarke

Sitting in the shade, Oleksandr was looking over his goods -- paintings, electronic components, toys and old phones -- laid out on wooden blanks on the tarmac.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

A Department for Infrastructure spokesperson said the "illegal storage" of the pallets under the flyover posed a "significant fire safety risk" as there were gas mains under the tarmac.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Kometer said it should be a tarmac rally stage while professional stunt driver and Long Beach local Sarah Fairfield, who piloted the second ’26 MX-5 on this trip, equated it to a roller coaster.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The drone was spotted on the tarmac at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany on Tuesday night in a secure area near a Ukrainian cargo jet, prompting the airport to shut down for the night.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

He was always taking off the sneakers Dustfinger had bought him and going around barefoot, even on hot tarmac, with his shoes tied to the backpack like loot he was taking home.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Related Words

• airstrip
• path
• platform
• ramp
• road