Nearby Words

macadam

[muh-kad-uhm] Origin

mac·ad·am

[muh-kad-uhm]
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
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Macadam is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
macadam (məˈkædəm)
 
n
a road surface made of compressed layers of small broken stones, esp one that is bound together with tar or asphalt
 
[C19: named after John McAdam (1756--1836), Scottish engineer, the inventor]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

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
EXPAND
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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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