Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
macadam
4 dictionary results for: macadam
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
mac·ad·am       [muh-kad-uhm] 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]
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.]

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.

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

Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com