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.
Example
“The mining of asphalt was big business in this area in the early twentieth century.”
Related words
- asphalter
- asphaltic
- asphaltite
- asphaltlike
- deasphalt
- nonasphalt
- air-blown asphalt
- asphalt emulsion
- asphaltene
- asphalt jungle
- asphalt road
- asphalt shingle
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ἄσφαλτος" (asphalt, bitumen).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “asphalt” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.