asphalt

CEFRC1

/ˈæʃfɑlt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A black material used to cover roads.
02
noun
Extra detail
Ellipsis of asphalt concrete, a hard ground covering used for roads and walkways.

Examples

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Also pronounced

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

To pave with asphalt.
A sticky, black to brown and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid, composed almost entirely of bitumen with small mineral particles, that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits.

In context

The street is paved with asphalt.
Please hose off the asphalt near the top of the driveway if the trucks get lots of mud on it.
The mining of asphalt was big business in this area in the early twentieth century.

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Question 1 · Quick check

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The word in print, with each source given in full.

Felltham wrote in the beginning of the 17th century of the “Bitumated walls of Babylon;” the source of its supply, the fountains of Is, on a tributary of the Euphrates, still yields asphalt.
1914, Thomas Hugh Boorman, Asphalts, their sources and utilizations, →OCLC, page 9
Between the grey mist of rainclouds the sun suddenly appeared to mottle the wet asphalt of Marble Arch in patches of silver and ebony.
1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 214
89.2 million tons of RAP are used annually in new asphalt pavement construction in the United States.
(Can we date this quote?), “RAP Benefits for Pavement Owners”, in National Asphalt Pavement Association, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025, page 1

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From Late Latin asphaltum, from Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, “asphalt, bitumen”). Displaced native Old English eorþteoru.