Library / English Dictionary

PAVING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of applying paving materials to an area

Synonyms:

pavage; paving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

application; coating; covering (the work of applying something)

Derivation:

pave (cover with a material such as stone or concrete to make suitable for vehicle traffic)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The paved surface of a thoroughfare

Synonyms:

pavement; paving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

paved surface (a level horizontal surface covered with paving material)

Meronyms (substance of "paving"):

paving stone (a stone used for paving)

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

curbside (the side of a sidewalk that is bordered by a curb)

Holonyms ("paving" is a substance of...):

road; route (an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation)

pavement; sidewalk (walk consisting of a paved area for pedestrians; usually beside a street or roadway)

street (a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings)

Derivation:

pave (cover with a material such as stone or concrete to make suitable for vehicle traffic)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Material used to pave an area

Synonyms:

pavement; paving; paving material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

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

asphalt (mixed asphalt and crushed gravel or sand; used especially for paving but also for roofing)

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

blacktop; blacktopping (a black bituminous material used for paving roads or other areas; usually spread over crushed rock)

macadam (broken stone used in macadamized roadways)

tarmac; tarmacadam (a paving material of tar and broken stone; mixed in a factory and shaped during paving)

Derivation:

pave (cover with a material such as stone or concrete to make suitable for vehicle traffic)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

-ing form of the verb pave

Credits

 Context examples: 

Scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol have found a way to create plastic semiconductor nanostructures that absorb light and transport its energy 20 times further than has been previously observed, paving the way for more flexible and more efficient solar cells and photodetectors.

(Plastic crystals hold key to record-breaking energy transport, Universities of Cambridge)

The Cambridge researchers, working in collaboration with colleagues at Jiangnan University in China, have shown how graphene – a two-dimensional form of carbon – and other related materials can be directly incorporated into fabrics to produce charge storage elements such as capacitors, paving the way to textile-based power supplies which are washable, flexible and comfortable to wear.

(Washable, wearable battery-like devices could be woven directly into clothes, University of Cambridge)