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  1. macadam love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Pavement made of layers of compacted broken stone, now usually bound with tar or asphalt.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Macadamized pavement.
  2. n. The material used for a macadam pavement.

Wiktionary

  1. n. uncountable The surface of a road consisting of layers of crushed stone (usually tar-coated for modern traffic).
  2. n. US, dated, countable Any road or street

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. The broken stone used in macadamized roadways.
  2. n. A paved surface formed of compressed layers of broken rocks held together with tar.
  3. adj. paved with macadam{2}.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. broken stone used in macadamized roadways
  2. n. a paved surface having compressed layers of broken rocks held together with tar

Etymologies

  1. Named after John Loudon McAdam, who invented the process of macadamization. Used for describing road surfaces originally constructed using the McAdam method, but now sometimes used for any road or street. (Wiktionary)
  2. After John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish civil engineer. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • Casey "Eddie started pushing Susannah along the smooth macadam of the parking lot again, pointing to cars as they passed them." From Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. Jan 19, 2011

  • chained_bear Cool, reesetee! I wasn't dreaming, there really was a guy named McAdam who paved roads. Whew! Feb 16, 2007

  • reesetee I think his family came to NY from Scotland. He lived mid-18th to mid-19th centuries. His family was apparently involved in the Revolutionary War.

    Here's some info I dug up quickly: www.maybole.org/Notables/johnloudonmcadamhistory.htm

    Wikipedia's entry for macadam says: "While macadam roads have now been resurfaced in most developed countries, some are preserved along stretches of roads such as the United States' National Road. Due to uses of macadam as a road surface in former times, roads in some parts of the United States (e.g., parts of Pennsylvania) are often referred to as macadam, even though they might be made of asphalt or concrete."

    Seems to explain the Pennsylvania link to the word. Feb 15, 2007

  • chained_bear Well, that would certainly make sense with the idea that it's a regionally known term in Pennsylvania. Was Mr. MacAdam (or was it Macadam?) a Scots immigrant to Pennsylvania, by any chance? I'm thinking late eighteenth, early nineteenth century at the latest, based on nothing but my vague memory... Feb 15, 2007

  • uselessness For what it's worth, I've never heard of this. My family speaks Michiganese, and I grew up in Florida. I now live in New Mexico. Haven't heard the word in any of those contexts. Feb 13, 2007

  • reesetee I've encountered that too--people who aren't from the same region not knowing this word. I'd always assumed it was more or less universal, but I've also heard it's a regional (PA) thing.

    There was a John McAdam--Scottish engineer, I believe. He invented a means to create roads that were smoother than those made of earth and called the process macadamisation. At first, it didn't include tar, but it was later added to keep dust down--and that is apparently where the word tarmac came from as well.

    Interesting! Feb 13, 2007

  • chained_bear I prefer to say this over "asphalt," or the even less desirable "blacktop," but apparently "macadam" is a regionalism and not many other people seem to know what I'm talking about.

    I remember learning years ago that it was a man named John MacAdam who invented the kind of paving we call asphalt. I don't know if that's true or one of those weird little memories I dredge up when I see this word. Feb 13, 2007

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‘macadam’ has been looked up 1945 times, loved by 1 person, added to 31 lists, commented on 7 times, and has a Scrabble score of 14.