Library / English Dictionary

CONCRETE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (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)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Example:

concrete objects such as trees

Classified under:

Adjectives

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

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

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

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with cement

Example:

concrete the walls

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is so hard to accept at once any abstract truth, that we may doubt such to be possible when we have always believed the 'no' of it; it is more hard still to accept so sad a concrete truth, and of such a one as Miss Lucy.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

By using this approach, the composting process is accelerated by approximately two months compared to the usual method of treating sludge in aerated piles, and by one month compared to another classic method that uses concrete containers.

(Scientists validate a new technology that transforms sewage sludge into fertilizer more efficiently, University of Granada)

His abnormal power of vision made abstractions take on concrete form.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Researchers from the Cambridge Graphene Centre prepared and tested the composite, confirming its ability to photocatalytically degrade pollutant molecules, then researchers at Italcementi applied the coating to concrete to investigate its potential for environmental remediation.

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

I had learned to look more closely at life as it was lived, to recognize that there were such things as facts in the world, to emerge from the realm of mind and idea and to place certain values on the concrete and objective phases of existence.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

And here was the man Spencer, organizing all knowledge for him, reducing everything to unity, elaborating ultimate realities, and presenting to his startled gaze a universe so concrete of realization that it was like the model of a ship such as sailors make and put into glass bottles.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He forgot to eat, and sought on for the books on etiquette; for, in addition to career, his mind was vexed by a simple and very concrete problem: When you meet a young lady and she asks you to call, how soon can you call? was the way he worded it to himself.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"Anyhow he gives large parties," said Jordan, changing the subject with an urbane distaste for the concrete. "And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)