macadam

What it means

1. uncountableThe surface of a road consisting of layers of crushed stone (usually tar-coated for modern traffic).

   This narrow-gauge line had suffered the same fate as that between Schull and Skibbereen, with the track taken up except where it runs through one of the town streets and is embedded in the macadam.

   1955 May, Rev. A. W. V. Mace, “An Irish Journey—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 304

2. UScountabledatedAny road or street.

In a sentence

This narrow-gauge line had suffered the same fate as that between Schull and Skibbereen, with the track taken up except where it runs through one of the town streets and is embedded in the macadam.

1955 May, Rev. A. W. V. Mace, “An Irish Journey—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 304

Where it comes from

Named after Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam (1756–1836), who invented the process of macadamization. Used for describing road surfaces originally constructed using the McAdam method, but now sometimes used for any road or street.