Tarmac

American  

[tahr-mak] / ˈtɑr mæk /

Trademark.

1. a brand of bituminous binder, similar to tarmacadam, for surfacing roads, airport runways, parking areas, etc.

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noun

1. (lowercase) a road, airport runway, parking area, etc., paved with Tarmac, tarmacadam, or a layer of tar.

2. (lowercase) a layer or covering of Tarmac, tarmacadam, or tar.

tarmac British  

/ ˈtɑːmæk /

noun

1. 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 See also macadam

2. a runway at an airport

   on the tarmac at Nairobi airport

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verb

1. (tr) (usually not capital) to apply tarmac to

Example Sentences

The president is effusive the first time that he greets his wife on an airplane tarmac alongside the film crew.

From Los Angeles Times

“We got to the terminal, and then we realized we’d left my purse and our cameras on the plane. We looked out on the tarmac, and there was our little plane with the doors wide open,” said Dorothy.

From Literature

"The journey over was fine, it was just the wait before. We were on the tarmac but the winds were too high for us to take off," Howe said.

From Barron's

In our 18th annual ranking, the WSJ looks at how airlines fared when it came to things like customer complaints, tarmac delays, on-time arrivals and lost luggage.

From The Wall Street Journal

After landing at Nuuk airport, Frederiksen was greeted on the tarmac by Nielsen, who gave her a hug.

From BBC

Related Words

• airstrip
• path
• platform
• ramp
• road