Nearby Words

tarmac

[tahr-mak] Origin

Tar·mac

[tahr-mak]
1.
Trademark. a brand of bituminous binder, similar to tarmacadam, for surfacing roads, airport runways, parking areas, etc.
noun
2.
(lowercase) a road, airport runway, parking area, etc., paved with Tarmac, tarmacadam, or a layer of tar.
3.
(lowercase) a layer or covering of Tarmac, tarmacadam, or tar.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Tarmac is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Collins
World English Dictionary
tarmac (ˈtɑːmæk)
 
n
1.  See also macadam 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
2.  the tarmac a runway at an airport: on the tarmac at Nairobi airport
 
vb , -macs, -macking, -macked
3.  (tr), (usually not capital) to apply tarmac to

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tarmac
1903 as a trademark name, short for tarmacadam (1882) "pavement created by spraying tar over crushed stone," from tar (1) + John L. McAdam (see macadam). By 1919, tarmac was being used generally in Great Britain for "runway."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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