tarmac

English

Etymology

Clipping of tarmacadam, which is tar +‎ macadam (crushed stones).

Noun

tarmac (countable and uncountable, plural tarmacs)

1. (British, Canada) The bituminous surface of a road.
   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎^[1]:

     How meek and shrunken did that haughty Tarmac become as it slunk by the wide circle of asphalt of the yellow sort, that was loosely strewn before the great iron gates of Lady Hall as a forerunner of the consideration that awaited the guests of Rupert, Earl of Kare, […] .

2. (informal, aviation) The area of an airport, other than the runway, where planes park or maneuver.

Translations

bituminous road surface

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 柏油路 (zh) (bóyóulù), 瀝青路／沥青路, 沥青路 (lìqīnglù)

• Dutch: bitumen (nl) n, asfalt (nl) n
• Finnish: öljysora (fi), asfaltti (fi), bitumisora
• French: tarmac (fr) m
• German: Asphalt (de) m, Teermakadam m or n
• Icelandic: malbik (is) n, asfalt n
• Irish: tarmac m, tarramhacadam m
• Italian: asfalto (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: ターマック (tāmakku), アスファルト舗装路 (asufaruto hosōro)
• Korean: 타맥 (tamaek)
• Maori: papatau
• Portuguese: asfalto (pt) m, macadame (pt) m
• Russian: гудрони́рованное шоссе́ n (gudronírovannoje šossé), асфа́льт (ru) m (asfálʹt)
• Spanish: asfalto (es) m
• Swahili: lami (sw)
• Swedish: asfalt (sv) c

See also

• asphalt

Verb

tarmac (third-person singular simple present tarmacs, present participle tarmacking or tarmacing or tarmaccing, simple past and past participle tarmacked or tarmaced or tarmacced)

1. (British, Canada) To pave.
   • 2008, Valerie Belsey, Exploring Green Lanes in North and North-West Devon‎^[2], →ISBN, page 108:

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

   • 2014, Taking the rough with the smooth: Bolton residents anger over half-tarmaced road, ITV Granada:

     Residents in Bolton are angry after workmen tarmaced only one half of their road leaving the other half strewn with potholes.

2. (aviation) To spend time idling on a runway, usually waiting for takeoff clearance.
   • 1989, Donald F. Wood & James C. Johnson, Contemporary Transportation‎^[3], →ISBN, 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.

Derived terms

• retarmac
• untarmacked

Anagrams

• amtrac, mactra, ram-cat

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French

Noun

tarmac m (plural tarmacs)

1. tarmac (part of airport)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taʁ.mak/

Etymology

Borrowed from English, a clipping of tarmacadam. Genericized trademark.

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Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from English tarmac.

Noun

tarmac m (genitive singular tarmac)

1. tarmac

Declension

Declension of tarmac

Fourth declension

Bare forms (no plural of this noun) Case Singular Nominative tarmac Vocative a tarmac Genitive tarmac Dative tarmac

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an tarmac Genitive an tarmac Dative leis an tarmac don tarmac

Synonyms

• tarramhacadam

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “tarmac”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN