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blacktop

(n): a black bituminous material used for paving roads or other areas; usually spread over crushed rock
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5 months ago chained_bear said:

We call it macadam where I grew up, because a man named Macadam supposedly invented it. I remember discussing this previously on Wordie, in the long ago time. (See macadam.)

5 months ago yarb said:

I never knew about the runway usage. Tarmac was what roads were made of where I were brung up.

5 months ago frindley said:

Asphalt is used in Australia, but not so much in connection with roads or highways - it's a surface I strongly associate with school playgrounds.

Tarmac, at least for this Aussie, is exclusively an aviation/airport term, referring to the runway, as in "we hit the tarmac at about 9.30". Oh, I can see, over on tarmac, that resetee has identified tarmac=runway as a British usage dating from 1919.

5 months ago yarb said:

Tarmac, anyone?

5 months ago Asativum said:

Also known as asphalt in the U.S., though some asphalt is grayer than blacktop.

5 months ago frindley said:

Me neither. I'd probably call the material bitumen. Not sure if there's a one-word equivalent for the verb form, perhaps tar?

5 months ago bilby said:

This word seems very American to me. I was fascinated by a film called Two-Lane Blacktop - yes, I'm the kind of person who'll spend 2 hours trying to pin down the meaning of a word - because I have categorically never heard this word in use in Australia.

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slumry (6335 words)
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