CONCRETE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does concrete mean? 

• CONCRETE (noun)
  The noun CONCRETE has 1 sense:

1. a strong hard building material composed of sand and gravel and cement and water

  Familiarity information: CONCRETE used as a noun is very rare.

• CONCRETE (adjective)
  The adjective CONCRETE has 2 senses:

1. capable of being perceived by the senses; not abstract or imaginary

2. formed by the coalescence of particles

  Familiarity information: CONCRETE used as an adjective is rare.

• CONCRETE (verb)
  The verb CONCRETE has 2 senses:

1. cover with cement

2. form into a solid mass; coalesce

  Familiarity information: CONCRETE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONCRETE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A strong hard building material composed of sand and gravel and cement and water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("concrete" is a kind of...):

building material (material used for constructing buildings)

pavement; paving; paving material (material used to pave an area)

Meronyms (substance of "concrete"):

cement (a building material that is a powder made of a mixture of calcined limestone and clay; used with water and sand or gravel to make concrete and mortar)

sand (a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "concrete"):

cement (concrete pavement is sometimes referred to as cement)

ferroconcrete; reinforced concrete (concrete with metal and/or mesh added to provide extra support against stresses)

Derivation:

concrete (cover with cement)

• CONCRETE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Capable of being perceived by the senses; not abstract or imaginary

Context example:

concrete objects such as trees

Similar:

objective (belonging to immediate experience of actual things or events)

real; tangible (capable of being treated as fact)

Also:

practical (concerned with actual use or practice)

existent; real (being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory)

tangible; touchable (perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch)

Attribute:

concreteness (the quality of being concrete (not abstract))

Antonym:

abstract (existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment)

Derivation:

concreteness (the quality of being concrete (not abstract))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Formed by the coalescence of particles

Similar:

solid (of definite shape and volume; firm; neither liquid nor gaseous)

• CONCRETE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they concrete    ... he / she / it concretes   
Past simple: concreted   
Past participle: concreted   
-ing form: concreting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover with cement

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

concrete the walls

Hypernyms (to "concrete" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

concrete (a strong hard building material composed of sand and gravel and cement and water)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form into a solid mass; coalesce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "concrete" is one way to...):

solidify (make solid or more solid; cause to solidify)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

concretion (the union of diverse things into one body or form or group; the growing together of parts)

concretion (an increase in the density of something)

 Context examples 

My memory flashed back to that first thin little volume on my desk, and I saw before me, as though in the concrete, the row of thin little volumes on my library shelf.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

If applied to concrete on the street or the walls of buildings, the harmless photodegradation products could be washed away by rain or wind, or manually cleaned off.

(Smog-eating graphene composite reduces atmospheric pollution, University of Cambridge)

It was all visualized in his mind as a concrete thing which he could take up in his two hands and turn around and about and examine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There is increasing interest around the world in using timber as a lighter, more sustainable construction alternative to steel and concrete.

(Revealing the nanostructure of wood could help raise height limits for wooden skyscrapers, University of Cambridge)

A major component of many types of rocks on Earth, silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) is used in industrial sand-and-gravel mixtures to make concrete for sidewalks, roads and buildings.

(Exploding Stars Make Key Ingredient in Sand, Glass, NASA)

FINDER has previously demonstrated capabilities of detect people buried under up to 30 feet of rubble, hidden behind 20 feet of solid concrete, and from a distant of 100 feet in open spaces.

(DHS and NASA Technology Helps Save Four in Nepal Earthquake Disaster, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It was the unknown, objectified at last, in concrete flesh and blood, bending over him and reaching down to seize hold of him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Dating of the material, which is thought to be early concrete, suggested it was between 10,000 and 12,000 years old, which would fit the rough timeline of when Atlantis is said to have existed.

(Researchers Claim to Have Found Mythical City of Atlantis in Spain, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Computational chemistry is the branch of theoretical chemistry whose major goals are to create efficient computer programs that calculate the properties of molecules (such as total energy, dipole moment, vibrational frequencies) and to apply these programs to concrete chemical objects.

(Computational Chemistry, NCI Thesaurus)

Thornton had been hurried into the wager, heavy with doubt; and now that he looked at the sled itself, the concrete fact, with the regular team of ten dogs curled up in the snow before it, the more impossible the task appeared.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)