Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A brownish-black solid or semisolid material consisting of bitumens obtained from native deposits or as a petroleum byproduct and used in paving, roofing, and waterproofing.
  • noun This material mixed with crushed stone gravel or sand, used for paving or roofing.
  • transitive verb To pave or coat with asphalt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cover or treat with asphalt.
  • noun Same as asphaltum.
  • noun A bituminous material, employed for the covering of roofs and arches, for the lining of tanks, for pavement and flooring, and as a cement. See asphaltum.
  • noun A thick solution of the finest asphaltum in spirits of turpentine, used by opticians.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To cover with asphalt
  • noun Mineral pitch, Jews' pitch, or compact native bitumen. It is brittle, of a black or brown color and high luster on a surface of fracture; it melts and burns when heated, leaving no residue. It occurs on the surface and shores of the Dead Sea, which is therefore called Asphaltites, or the Asphaltic Lake. It is found also in many parts of Asia, Europe, and America. See bitumen.
  • noun A composition of bitumen, pitch, lime, and gravel, used for forming pavements, and as a water-proof cement for bridges, roofs, etc.; asphaltic cement. Artificial asphalt is prepared from coal tar, lime, sand, etc.
  • noun a limestone found impregnated with asphalt.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid, composed almost entirely of bitumen, that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits.
  • noun An abbreviation for asphalt concrete, a hard ground covering used for roads and walkways.
  • verb To pave with asphalt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun mixed asphalt and crushed gravel or sand; used especially for paving but also for roofing
  • noun a dark bituminous substance found in natural beds and as residue from petroleum distillation; consists mainly of hydrocarbons
  • verb cover with tar or asphalt

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English aspalt, from Medieval Latin asphaltus, from Greek asphaltos.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Late Latin asphaltum, from Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, "asphalt, bitumen").

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