tarmac

plural tarmacs

1. countableuncountableTarmacadam.
2. CanadaIrelandUKbroadlycountableuncountableAny bituminous road surfacing material.

   How meek and shrunken did that haughty Tarmac become as it slunk by the wide circle of asphalt of the yellow sort, that was loosely strewn before the great iron gates of Lady Hall as a forerunner of the consideration that awaited the guests of Rupert, Earl of Kare, […].

   1922, Michael Arlen, “3/1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

   Synonyms: asphalt

3. CanadaIrelandUKcountableuncountableThe driveable surface of a road.
4. countableinformaluncountableaeronauticsThe area of an airport, other than the runway, where planes park or maneuver.

   As he walked across the tarmac in the bitter January wind he saw his own name going over the network: BOND, JAMES. BRITISH DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT 0094567, the short wait and the replies coming back on the different machines: NEGATIVE, NEGATIVE, NEGATIVE. And then, from the FBI: POSITIVE AWAIT CHECK.

   1954, Ian Fleming, “The Red Carpet”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 1

present singular third person tarmacs · participle present tarmacking · participle present tarmacing · participle present tarmaccing · participle past tarmacked · past tarmacked · participle past tarmaced · past tarmaced · participle past tarmacced · past tarmacced

1. CanadaUKtransitiveTo pave with tarmacadam or a similar material.

   To your left is a green lane, partly tarmacked with chippings, which leads up to a little car-parking area.

   2008, Valerie Belsey, Exploring Green Lanes in North and North-West Devon, →ISBN, page 108

   1 more example

   Residents in Bolton are angry after workmen tarmaced only one half of their road leaving the other half strewn with potholes.

   2014, Taking the rough with the smooth: Bolton residents anger over half-tarmaced road, ITV Granada

2. intransitiveaeronauticsTo spend time idling on a runway, usually waiting for takeoff clearance.

   "It is not unusual these days for the time spent tarmacking to exceed the time spent in the air, " said Senator John Danforth, R-Mo.

   1989, Donald F. Wood, James C. Johnson, Contemporary Transportation, →ISBN, page 213