different between macadam vs blacktop

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /m??kæd?m/

Noun

macadam (countable and uncountable, plural macadams)

1. (uncountable) The surface of a road consisting of layers of crushed stone (usually tar-coated for modern traffic).
2. (US, dated, countable) Any road or street.

Derived terms

• tarmac
• tarmacadam

Translations

Verb

macadam (third-person singular simple present macadams, present participle macadaming or macadamming, simple past and past participle macadamed or macadammed)

1. (transitive) To cover or surface with macadam.

See also

• asphalt

Further reading

• macadam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Spanish

Noun

macadam m (plural macadams or macadam)

1. macadam

English

Etymology

From black +? top.

Alternative forms

• black top, black-top

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?blækt?p/

Noun

blacktop (countable and uncountable, plural blacktops)

1. (US, uncountable) Asphalt concrete or similar bituminous black paving material used for the surface of roads (e.g., tarmacadam, tarmac). [from 20th c.]
   • 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin 2010, p. 284:

     Then I was around the hill on the blacktop and in another country.

2. (US, countable) A road so paved.

Verb

blacktop (third-person singular simple present blacktops, present participle blacktopping, simple past and past participle blacktopped)

1. (US) To pave with blacktop. [from 20th c.]

   The county first blacktopped that road decades ago