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Synonyms

asphalt

American  
[as-fawlt, -falt] / ˈæs fɔlt, -fælt /

noun

  1. any of various dark-colored, solid, bituminous substances, native in various areas of the earth and composed mainly of hydrocarbon mixtures.

  2. a similar substance that is the by-product of petroleum-cracking operations.

  3. a mixture of such substances with gravel, crushed rock, or the like, used for paving.

verb (used with object)

  1. to cover or pave with asphalt.

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or containing asphalt.

    asphalt tile.
asphalt British  
/ -fɔːlt, ˈæʃ-, ˈæsfælt /

noun

  1. any of several black semisolid substances composed of bitumen and inert mineral matter. They occur naturally in parts of America and as a residue from petroleum distillation: used as a waterproofing material and in paints, dielectrics, and fungicides

  2. a mixture of this substance with gravel, used in road-surfacing and roofing materials

  3. (modifier) containing or surfaced with asphalt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to cover with asphalt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
asphalt Scientific  
/ ăs′fôlt′ /

  1. A thick, sticky, dark-brown mixture of petroleum tars used in paving, roofing, and waterproofing. Asphalt is produced as a byproduct in refining petroleum or is found in natural beds.

Other Word Forms

  • asphaltic adjective
  • asphaltlike adjective
  • unasphalted adjective

Etymology

Origin of asphalt

1275–1325; earlier asphaltos, -um < Latin < Greek ásphaltos, -on, akin to asphalízein to make firm, to secure; replacing Middle English aspaltoun ≪ Greek ásphalton

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“If you hadn’t tried to jump, one or all of us might have been crushed by the asphalt that got me. We were wasting time talking. You got us moving.”

From Literature

Navigating the cracked asphalt, I reply, “Part of my charm.”

From Literature

We drive until all I can see is gray asphalt and dingy buildings.

From Literature

She let the chair drop to the asphalt and ran toward Cameron Sound.

From Literature

Coal scooped up the chalk that spread out on the asphalt as he balanced on his toes.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.