bitumen — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum, burning with a bright flame. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, etc.; Mineral pitch.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   Jew's pitch

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   You need to excavate and remove the topsoil, line the subsoil with a geotextile, then lay and compact hardcore. Follow this with a layer of compacted "hoggin" – compacted clay, gravel and sand. This is then sprayed with hot bitumen, and has a layer of pea shingle rolled into it.

2. Any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petrolea, and even the light, volatile naphthas.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

3. Roads sealed with bitumen, as opposed to dirt roads.

   Usage

   • Australia
   • Colloquial
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

4. Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil.

   Usage

   • Canada
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Verb

1. To cover or fill with bitumen.

   Synonyms

   bituminize

   Related words

   asphalt

   Examples

   another star reflected itself in the glassy black of the bitumened road

   More examples (1)

   The Litlata community have now built a mandi set in a pleasant garden, and to ensure the cleanliness of their yardna have bricked and bitumened the pool into which the water flows

   Work is already under way to complete the bitumening of Western Australia's last unsurfaced stretch of Highway One, between Fitzroy Crossing and Hall's Creek.

   More examples (1)

   The development of water reticulation occurred in parallel with street work — forming, kerbing, channelling and bitumening.

Noun

1. any of various naturally occurring impure mixtures of hydrocarbons

   Broader terms

   hydrocarbon