Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A tarmacadam road or surface, especially an airport runway.
- v. To cause (an aircraft) to sit on a taxiway.
- v. To sit on a taxiway. Used of an aircraft.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- Shortening of tarmacadam, which is tar + macadam (crushed stones). (Wiktionary)
- Originally a trademark. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“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.”
“It was a bad month for travelers caught in tarmac delays.”
“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.”
“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
“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.”
“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.”
“Passengers trapped on the tarmac is a suitable symbol for the present plight of air travelers and airlines.”
“The only other plane on the tarmac was a big DC-9 passenger jet emblazoned with the Gore-Lieberman campaign logo.”
“Waiting on the tarmac was a Gulfstream III (G3) executive jet (tail number N366JA).”
“The dramatic image of a president on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tarmac’.
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bbc uk china vocab.
conservationists, estimate, threats, infertility, eating away at, endangered, furry, panel, in trouble, gongs, triumphed, caps and 1007 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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Ends with C but not with "-ic"
bloc, roc, arc, orc, disc, sac, xebec, havoc, bivouac, sumac, maniac, insomniac and 418 more...
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Words from books I've read
These are some words I didn't know when I read and now I want to know!
Scribble, Newfangled, swift, swathe, budget, obstreperous, trickle, rank, covetous, scratch, hunch, dodge and 179 more...
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erinnbatykefer's Words
ewer, lace, grenadine, wick, haruspex, augur, distal, proximal, supine, labyrinthine, rivers, monongahela and 176 more...
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Fun with Apocopes
Words created by removing the end of a longer or original word. See also Fun with Aphesis.
abs, ad, bio, veg, veggie, tux, auto, bike, carbs, pecs, bro, sis and 186 more...
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trademark
all of these are from 7 English
dictionaries and Macquarie dictionary
I havent listed capitalized ones yet
but Viagra would be one and common
words like sterling a sub-machi...agene, adware, airbus, alnico, amberina, amarone, apiezon, aspirin, atebrin, atebrine, autocue, autoharp and 774 more...
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English
rewarding, wit, landmark, core, soar, drop, plunge, plummet, dive, level off, rocket, peak and 110 more...
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anotherfailedattempt's Words
kakistocracy, conflagration, pollyanna, equanimity, punctillious, obstreperous, ribald, belligerent, truculent, verbose, lachrymose, onanism and 278 more...
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GRE list 1
Bloviate, Bacchanalia, mirth, covet, inconsequential, prescient, heresy, revelry, modality, gentrify, vitiate, tantalize and 182 more...
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vinyl's Words
deliverator, finna, metric fuckton, fag, hyphy, ginormous, sacrilicious, fantabulous, macaca, n-word, pterodactyl, genious and 560 more...
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Genericide
Trademarks that have lost their character as indicators of source to become a general term for a product or service.
cellophane, aspirin, butterscotch, escalator, heroin, kerosene, thermos, yo-yo, zipper, dry ice, email, freeware and 106 more...
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Fun
harangue, quixotic, persnickety, lachrymose, kerfuffle, zephyr, chthonic, vixen, fiend, scoundrel, cricket, belfry and 193 more...
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noele's list
vertiginous, verdant, mellifluous, serpentine, verdigris, traject, amaranthine, luminous, phosphorescent, temerous, cerulean, shapeshifter and 531 more...
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Choppers
Words that have been cut down from their original glory, ie. apocopes, but are still 'understandable' in the chopped form. eg. doc for doctor. Most of them are horribilisms, I know :-( Let's keep t...
doc, rep, van, bus, fridge, pub, flu, hon, santa, diff, blog, exam and 49 more...
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rm19's Words
Tweets
Looking for tweets for tarmac.
bilby Maybe a little tart. Apr 29, 2009
mollusque If Tarmac wed Tartish would they have a tar baby? Apr 29, 2009
reesetee 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. Mar 2, 2007