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macadam

4 dictionary results for: macadam

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mac·ad·am

[muh-kad-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a macadamized road or pavement.

2.	the broken stone used in making such a road.

[Origin: 1815–25; named after J. L. McAdam (1756–1836), Scottish engineer who invented it

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mac·ad·am (mə-kād'əm) Pronunciation Key
n. Pavement made of layers of compacted broken stone, now usually bound with tar or asphalt.

[After John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish civil engineer.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
macadam

1824, named for inventor, Scot. civil engineer John L. McAdam (1756-1836), who developed a method of leveling roads and paving them with gravel and outlined the process in his pamphlet "Remarks on the Present System of Road-Making" (1822). Originally, road material consisting of a solid mass of stones of nearly uniform size laid down in layers; he did not approve of the use of binding materials or rollers. The idea of mixing tar with the gravel began 1880s. Verb macadamize is first recorded 1826.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

macadam
noun
1.	broken stone used in macadamized roadways
2.	a paved surface having compressed layers of broken rocks held together with tar [syn: tarmacadam]

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