pavement

noun

pave·​ment ˈpāv-mənt 

1

: a paved surface: such as

a

: the artificially covered surface of a public thoroughfare

b

chiefly British : sidewalk

2

: the material with which something is paved

3

: something that suggests a pavement (as in flatness, hardness, and extent of surface)

Examples of pavement in a Sentence

He stopped the car just off the pavement.

The summer heat rose off the pavement.

Recent Examples on the Web

Under heavy security, passing tourists snapped photos of the scene, where workers scrubbed clean the scorch marks from the pavement out front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse. —Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 4 June 2025

The project will add new carpool lanes along 7 miles of Highway 50 across Sacramento’s core and resurface the degraded pavement. —Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2025

And, with it, so was its multipronged plan — to work with seven other nonprofits on a program of planting trees in public spaces, and giving away fruit trees, as a way to offset the effects that extreme heat has in communities that are otherwise blanketed with pavement. —Ryan Carter, Oc Register, 2 June 2025

Trolleys rattle down jagged pavement and trucks drop off produce while residents linger to chat. —Lily Radziemski, New York Times, 29 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin pavimentum, from pavire

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing pavement

• hit the pavement
• pavement café
• pound the streets/pavement

Rhymes for pavement

• enslavement

Kids Definition

pavement

noun

pave·​ment ˈpāv-mənt 

1

: a paved surface (as of a street)

2

: the material with which something is paved