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# tarmac

noun (tarmac, uncountable; the tarmac)

«tarmac» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Tarmac is a hard black material for road and path surfaces, made of crushed stones mixed with tar. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#m1)
2. «The tarmac» often means the area of an airport where planes park and take off. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#m2)

### In the lessons

In everyday life, roads, playgrounds and driveways are covered with tarmac; in hot weather it can get very hot and even soft. In news: «The plane waited on the tarmac». In science, dark tarmac absorbs heat from the sun more than light surfaces.

### Examples

- The playground is covered in tarmac. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#x1)
- Workers laid new tarmac on our road. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#x2)
- The plane sat on the tarmac for an hour. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#x3)
- Tarmac gets very hot in summer, so dogs shouldn't walk on it at midday. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#x4)
- He grazed his knee on the tarmac. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#x5)
- The rain made the tarmac shiny and slippery. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/#x6)

### Note

Uncountable noun. It is short for «tarmacadam», once a trade name, so some write «Tarmac» with a capital. In the USA, people usually say «asphalt» or «blacktop» for roads. In science, dark surfaces like tarmac absorb more heat than light ones.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «tarmac» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tarmac/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«tarmac» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tarmac.html) on Mova free.