concrete
Adjectiveconcreter, concretest
Noun pluralconcretes (some meanings)
Verbconcretes, concreting, concreted
Formsconcreter, concretest
Pluralconcretes (some meanings)
Formsconcretes, concreting, concreted
- 1Dealing with real things you can see or touch, rather than ideas or types.
Like pointing at a real apple instead of talking about fruit in general.
Give me a concrete reason, not just a feeling.
The teacher used concrete objects to explain the math problem.
Similaractual, real, tangible, material, specific
Oppositeabstract, intangible
Note
- 2Real and able to be seen, touched, or proven.
Like holding something in your hand instead of just imagining it.
We finally have concrete proof that the bridge is unsafe.
She wanted concrete answers, not vague promises.
Similartangible, solid, real, definite, firm
Oppositeabstract, intangible, vague, hypothetical
- 3Made from the hard gray material used to build roads, floors, and walls.
They poured a concrete floor in the new garage.
The old bunker had thick concrete walls.
Note
- 4A hard building material made by mixing cement, water, and small stones or sand.
Like a thick paste that sets as hard as stone.
The workers poured concrete for the new sidewalk.
Concrete takes several days to fully harden.
Note
- 5About one exact thing, not general or vague ideas.
Like naming the exact day instead of saying 'sometime soon'.
Can you give a concrete date for the trip?
We need a concrete plan, not just rough ideas.
Similarspecific, particular, individual, singular, discrete
Oppositegeneral, vague, abstract, unspecific
Note
- 6A hard building material that uses Portland cement, a powder made from limestone.
Most sidewalks today are made of concrete that uses Portland cement.
Portland-based concrete is much stronger than older lime mixes.
- 7
- 8To turn a vague idea into something real and definite.
Like writing a promise down so it can't be forgotten or changed.
Writing the plan down helped concrete his goals.
Signing the lease concreted their decision to move.
Similarsolidify, cement, formalize, crystallize, consolidate
Note
- 9A thick frozen custard dessert mixed with toppings like candy or fruit.
Like a milkshake so thick you eat it with a spoon.
We stopped for a thick concrete loaded with strawberries and chocolate chips.
Her favorite summer treat is a peanut-butter concrete from the custard stand.
Note
- 10A word that names a quality and also the thing that has that quality.
Like a label that names both the smell and the flower at the same time.
The word 'red' works as a concrete because it points to both the color and the apple.
Teachers explained that 'sweet' can be a concrete, naming both a taste and the fruit that has it.
Oppositeabstract
Note
- 11A thick, semi-solid extract made from plants, often valued for its strong smell.
Like a thick paste squeezed from flowers that still holds their smell.
The perfumer warmed the concrete until it softened enough to blend.
Jasmine concrete has a rich, heavy scent that lasts a long time.
Note
- 12Describing a kind of math structure whose objects are really sets with extra features built on top.
Like a toy that is really just a plain box with extra pieces added on top.
The teacher said groups form a concrete category because each one is a set with rules.
Many structures in math are concrete, meaning you can see them as sets.
Note
- 13Describing a math category linked to a chosen base category by a special kind of mapping.
Like measuring something against a ruler you choose instead of always using the same one.
A category can be concrete over any base you pick, not just over sets.
Researchers showed the structure was concrete over the chosen base category.
Note
- 14A solid lump formed when separate bits join together into one mass.
Like many grains of sand pressed together until they make one solid rock.
The physician examined a hard concrete that had formed inside the patient's kidney.
But if Gold it ſelf be admitted, as it muſt be, for a porous Concrete, the proportion of Void to Body in the texture of common Air will be ſo much the greater.
1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism from the Origin and Frame of the World. Part II.Here, Concrete means a solid made of many small bits joined together.Note
- 15
- 16Solid, not liquid, so it cannot flow or pour.
Like butter from the fridge that is hard instead of runny.
When the fat cooled, it grew concrete and would no longer pour.
The natives distil a kind of arrack from the flowers, which are also eaten raw. The seeds, too, yield a concrete oil, by expression, used for lamps, and occasionally to fry withal.
c. 1848, J[oseph] D[alton] Hooker, “Extracts from the Private Letters of Dr. J. D. Hooker, written during a Botanical Mission to India”Here, concrete means solid, not liquid.Note
- 17Sugar made by boiling cane juice down into a solid lump.
Maple sugar is crystallized from the concentrated sap of maple. Maple concrete can be purchased and water added to make maple syrup.
1975, Lendal H[enry] Kotschevar, Quantity Food PurchasingHere, concrete means solid sugar made by boiling down sap.Note
- 18To come together and harden into one solid mass.
Like melted candle wax that sets into a hard piece as it cools.
As the liquid cooled, the wax began to concrete around the wick.
The mastic which concretes on the stem is called mastic in the tear, while that which falls to the earth constitutes common mastic.
1840, Jonathan Pereira, “Pista'cia Lentis'cus, Linn. L. E. D.—The Mastic or Lentisk Tree.”Here, concretes means hardens into a solid lump.Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin concrescō, meaning "to grow together," made from con- (together) and crescō (to grow).