tarmac
(informal, aviation) The area of an airport, other than the runway, where planes park or maneuver.
Seen in the wild
[#Événement] Plus que deux mois avant notre nouvelle édition de Ciné Tarmac du 3 au 5 juillet 🍿 Ouverture de la billetterie le 3 juin 🎟️ #SpaceGeek #CinemaParis #SortirAParis
Is he drunk or on drugs of some sort? He’s swerving all over the tarmac with zero obstacles. I’ve seen drunk people, who have partied all day on the water, walk better when they first touch dry land. Maybe he’s an…
i had to make up an excuse to not go to that wedding in july because telling the bride that the world economy is almost to the end of its tarmac would sound crazy, so i opted to lie
Aboard Finnair’s Inaugural Flight from Toronto to Helsinki https://www.europesays.com/dk/75426/ Finnair co-pilot waves two flags on inaugural landing Finnair was greeted with a water salute on the tarmac…
I'm guessing about 40 minutes after his boots hit the tarmac.
Definitions
(informal, aviation) The area of an airport, other than the runway, where planes park or maneuver.
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 gue…
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(UK, Ireland, Canada) The driveable surface of a road.
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 gue…
Comments
(loosely, UK, Ireland, Canada) Any bituminous road surfacing material.
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, NEGAT…
Tarmac means: Any bituminous road surfacing material.. It is mainly Canadian English and may not be understood outside that context. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
tarmac means: Any bituminous road surfacing material.. Register: informal, Canadian English. Often not understood outside its region; gloss the word on first use when writing for an international audience. A common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; native speakers immediately notice when slang appears in formal contexts, so always check the surrounding register before producing it yourself.
“[#Événement] Plus que deux mois avant notre nouvelle édition de Ciné Tarmac du 3 au 5 juillet 🍿 Ouverture de la billetterie le 3 juin 🎟️ #SpaceGeek #CinemaParis #SortirAParis”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Is he drunk or on drugs of some sort? He’s swerving all over the tarmac with zero obstacles. I’ve seen drunk people, who have partied all day on the water, walk better when they first touch dry land. Maybe he’s an artist and he was doing interpretive walking?”
— Bluesky· May 2026“i had to make up an excuse to not go to that wedding in july because telling the bride that the world economy is almost to the end of its tarmac would sound crazy, so i opted to lie”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Aboard Finnair’s Inaugural Flight from Toronto to Helsinki https://www.europesays.com/dk/75426/ Finnair co-pilot waves two flags on inaugural landing Finnair was greeted with a water salute on the tarmac…”
— Bluesky· May 2026“I'm guessing about 40 minutes after his boots hit the tarmac.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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