macadam
noun
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John Loudon McAdam and Macadam
In 1783, inventor John Loudon McAdam returned to his native Scotland after amassing a fortune in New York City. He became the road trustee for his district and quickly set his inventiveness to remedying the terrible condition of local roads. After numerous experiments, he created a new road surfacing material made of bits of stone that became compressed into a solid mass as traffic passed over them. His invention revolutionized road construction and transportation, and engineers and the public alike honored him by using his name (respelled macadam) as a generic term for the material or pavement made from it. He is further immortalized in the verb macadamize, which names the process of installing macadam on a road.
Examples of macadam in a Sentence
Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2024
Crushed stone or even macadam became the roads’ base.
—Mary Ann Ashcraft, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 11 Oct. 2019
The macadam on Tenth Street comes out of the winter in wretched condition.
—Arthur Hart, idahostatesman, 30 June 2018
Articles Related to macadam
Dictionary Entries Near macadam
Cite this Entry
“Macadam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macadam. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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macadam
noun
named for John L. McAdam 1756–1836 Scottish engineer who invented the paving process
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