Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A tarmacadam road or surface, especially an airport runway.
- intransitive verb To cause (an aircraft) to sit on a taxiway.
- intransitive verb To sit on a taxiway. Used of an aircraft.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK, Canada The
bituminous surface of aroad . - noun aviation Area of an
airport where planespark ormaneuver . - verb UK, Canada To
pave - verb aviation To spend time idling on a runway, usually waiting for
takeoff clearance
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I - one of the most fascinating aspects of your book is - because it interests me so personally, is concrete and the development of roads in the country, and how we got the word tarmac and concrete and things like that.
NPR Topics: News 2011
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It was a bad month for travelers caught in tarmac delays.
Airline on-time performance falls, tarmac delays up in June 2009
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It was to be a while before the luggage was to be loaded so the pilot took me up to the board the plane where I could watch the tarmac from a window.
Gulf War II 2006
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Calhoun instructed his team to walk along the chain-link fence that separated the tarmac from the fans, many of whom reached through with scraps of paper for their heroes to sign.
USATODAY.com - Notebook: Title game draws lowest rating ever on CBS 2004
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My old office is in a huge corporate park right across the street from Los Angeles International Airport; we could see the planes hit the tarmac from the 12th floor of the building.
Year One 1997
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They've been lobbying Congress for years to crack down on the airlines, to stop what some call tarmac hostage-taking, to punish airlines that punish passengers with interminable delays on the tarmac.
chicagotribune.com - 2009
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Passengers trapped on the tarmac is a suitable symbol for the present plight of air travelers and airlines.
Christine Negroni: Tarmac Rules Trap Passengers and Airlines on a Flight to Nowhere 2010
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The only other plane on the tarmac was a big DC-9 passenger jet emblazoned with the Gore-Lieberman campaign logo.
COURAGE AND CONSEQUENCE KARL ROVE 2010
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Waiting on the tarmac was a Gulfstream III (G3) executive jet (tail number N366JA).
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Passengers trapped on the tarmac is a suitable symbol for the present plight of air travelers and airlines.
Christine Negroni: Tarmac Rules Trap Passengers and Airlines on a Flight to Nowhere 2010
reesetee commented on the word tarmac
Originally a trademark name, short for tarmacadam (1882), pavement created by spraying tar over crushed stone, a process invented by John McAdam. By 1919, tarmac had come into use (mostly in Great Britain) to mean runway.
March 2, 2007
mollusque commented on the word tarmac
If Tarmac wed Tartish would they have a tar baby?
April 29, 2009
bilby commented on the word tarmac
Maybe a little tart.
April 29, 2009