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A.Word.A.Day--tarmac

tarmac (TAHR-mak) noun

A tarmacadam road or surface, especially an airport runway.

verb tr.

To cause (an aircraft) to sit on a taxiway.

verb intr.

To sit on a taxiway. Used of an aircraft.

[Originally a trademark.]

"Official predictions suggest that Britain faces a future of rising congestion and pollution, as more countryside disappears under concrete and tarmac." Driving Britain off the roads, The Economist, Jan 24, 1998.

This week's theme: brand names that have entered the dictionary.

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