New Zealand English for what most of the world calls asphalt or tarmac — the black road surface material.
New Zealand English for what most of the world calls asphalt or tarmac — the black road surface material. In NZ, both the material and the paved road itself are called tarseal. It shows up in everyday Kiwi conversation in ways that might throw off outsiders: 'back on the tarseal' means you're on a sealed (paved) road again after a gravel stretch, which matters in a country where many roads are still unsealed.
The last ten kilometers of the trail were rough gravel, but we finally hit the tarseal and made good time from there.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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(US, uncountable) Asphalt concrete or similar bituminous black paving material used for the surface of roads (e.g., tarmacadam, tarmac).
(loosely, UK, Ireland, Canada) Any bituminous road surfacing material.
(AU, colloquial) Roads sealed with bitumen, as opposed to dirt roads.
A hard black enamel varnish containing asphalt.
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(NZ) asphalt.
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