tarmac

1 of 2

noun

tar·​mac ˈtär-ˌmak 

: a tarmacadam road, apron, or runway

Tarmac

2 of 2

trademark

—used for a bituminous binder for roads

Examples of tarmac in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Later that evening, Lidia and a group of other detainees were boarded onto a bus and driven to an airport tarmac. — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

In his way are his eternal rival Jonas Vingegaard, teenage French phenomenon Paul Seixas, 3,333km of tarmac, and over 54,000m of climbing. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 1 July 2026

Miami elected officials, Miami Museum’s CEO and a team from the National Archives Foundation welcomed the plane Monday on the hot tarmac at Opa-locka Airport, as the founding documents from 250 years ago arrived for their stay in the Museum of Miami for a two-week exhibition. — Halle Vazquez, Sun Sentinel, 19 June 2026

With 10 days to go until the first cars hit the track at Coronado, the circuit is looking more like a race track than streets and the air station tarmac. — Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

from Tarmac, a trademark

First Known Use

Noun

1919, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tarmac

• the tarmac

Rhymes for tarmac

• aback
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback
• cutback

Kids Definition

tarmac

noun

tar·​mac ˈtär-ˌmak 

: a road, apron, or runway paved with layers of crushed stone covered with tar