tarmac

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Usage notes 1.2.2 Translations 1.2.3 See also 1.3 Verb 1.3.1 Alternative forms 1.4 Anagrams

[edit] English

Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

Shortened form of tarmacadam, tar + macadam (crushed stones).

[edit] Noun

tarmac (plural tarmacs)

1. (British, Canadian) The bituminous surface of a road.
2. (aviation) Area of an airport where planes park or maneuver.

[edit] Usage notes

• The tarmac are any areas of an airfield that are paved. It is often used to describe planes that are sitting still on a paved road surface due to some sort of delay.

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• asphalt

[edit] Verb

to tarmac (third-person singular simple present tarmacs, present participle tarmacking, simple past and past participle tarmacked)

1. (British, Canadian) To pave
   • 2008, Valerie Belsey, Exploring Green Lanes in North and North-West Devon^[1], ISBN 1900322218, page 108:

     To your left is a green lane, partly tarmacked with chippings, which leads up to a little car-parking area.

2. (aviation) To spend time idling on a runway, usually waiting for takeoff clearance
   • 1989, Donald F. Wood & James C. Johnson, Contemporary Transportation^[2], ISBN 0024294802, page 213:

     "It is not unusual these days for the time spent tarmacking to exceed the time spent in the air, " said Senator John Danforth, R-Mo.

[edit] Alternative forms

• tarmack

[edit] Anagrams

• Anagrams of aacmrt
• mactra