Dictionary

concrete en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• [ˈkɑŋkɹiːt] (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [ˌkɑŋˈkɹiːt] (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [ˈkɒŋkɹiːt] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɑnkɹit/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• (California) audio
• /ˌkɑnˈkɹit/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [kəŋˈkɹiːt] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin concrētus, past participle of concrescō (to curdle) from con- (with, together) + crescō (to grow, rise).

Meanings

1. Real, actual, tangible.
   • American intelligence officials have long said privately that Huawei has so-called back doors that could allow the company to obtain data that flows on the networks they build and maintain. But publicly, officials have spoken mostly about the potential that Huawei could provide Chinese officials with access to all kinds of data, without offering concrete proof. 2020 February 11, Julian E. Barnes, “White House Official Says Huawei Has Secret Back Door to Extract Data”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Jun 2023:
   • Once arrested, I realized that handcuffs are concrete, even if my concept of what is legal wasn't.
   • Professor Peter Crome, chair of the audit's steering group, said the report "provides further concrete evidence that the care of patients with dementia in hospital is in need of a radical shake-up". While a few hospitals had risen to the challenge of improving patients' experiences, many have not, he said. The report recommends that all staff receive basic dementia awareness training, and staffing levels should be maintained to help such patients. 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2023:
   • l am perplexed by the superior importance which Dr, Pratt attributes to abstract trueness over concrete verifiability in an idea, and I wish that he might be moved to explain. 1909, William James, The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to 'Pragmatism', London […]: Longmans, Green, and Co., page 173:
   • The secretary general went on to express his concern with recent Israeli announcements to expand settlements in the occupied lands, urging them to: stop the demolitions of Palestinian homes and confiscation of Palestinian lands, address the humanitarian situation in Gaza and to take concrete steps to improve the daily lives of the Palestinian people. He also noted that all of these behaviours made more difficult the achievement of an Israel-Palestinian peace. 2016 February 6, James Zogby, “Israel's prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2022:
   • That fact I think should be leading us to explore again what our tradition has always said, that militarization is not good for us as it is not good for the rest of humanity either, and we ought to be examining what in this generation that means in the toughest, realest, concretest form, what it means for us to be struggling toward. 1978, Jerry V. Diller, editor, Ancient Roots and Modern Meanings: A Contemporary Reader in Jewish Identity, New York, N.Y.: Bloch Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 244:
   • Mr. Thaler challenged the decision in federal court, arguing that human authorship is not a concrete legal requirement and allowing AI copyrights would be in line with copyright's purpose as outlined in the U.S. constitution to "promote the progress of science and useful arts." 2023 August 21, Blake Brittain, “AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, court rules”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, ON: The Woodbridge Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2023:
   • Fuzzy videotapes and distorted sound recordings are not concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists.
2. (of a category) Real, actual, tangible. ▸ Analogous to the categories of algebraic objects which category theory was created to generalize, in the sense of having objects which can be thought of as sets equipped with some additional structure. Formally, equipped with a faithful functor to the category of sets.
3. (broadly, of a category C with respect to another category X, qualifier:topos theory) Real, actual, tangible. ▸ Equipped with a faithful functor to X (called a base category), in which case C is called a concrete category over X.
4. Being or applying to actual things, rather than abstract qualities or categories.
   • He will be occupied during his whole life with a study not of ideas apart from their concrete embodiment, not of things concrete apart from their inward significance, but with a study of expression, — expression as seen in the countenance of external nature, expression in Greek statue, mediæval cathedral, Renaissance altar-piece, expression in the ritual of various religions, and in the visible bearing of various types of manhood, in various exponents of tradition, of thought, and of faith. 1902 July, Edward Dowden, “Walter Pater”, in The Atlantic, volume 90, number 537, Boston, M.A.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Jan 2023, page 113, column 2:
   • Concrete Terms, while they expreſs the Quality, do alſo either expreſs, or imply, or refer to ſome Subject to which it belongs; as white, round, long, broad, wiſe, mortal, living, dead. 1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […], published 1726, →OCLC, part I (Of Perceptions and Ideas), page 58:
   • As expressed in the premiss, the proposition appeals directly and in concrete language to the incapacity of the human imagination for conceiving a minimum. 1843, John Stuart Mill, “Fallacies of Confusion”, in A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation. […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, page 465:
   • Bologna was a stronghold of medical teaching. The city's famous university, established in 1088, is the oldest in the world. "What they had we call scholastic medicine," Pomata told me. "When we say 'scholastic,' we mean something that is very abstract, not concrete, not empirical." 2014 April 7, James Wood, quoting Gianna Pomata, “Sergei Dovlatov and the Hearsay of Memory”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2023:
   • The closer it comes to becoming concrete the more abstract it seems. Things get very abstract. The concrete room was the sum of abstract facts. Are facts abstract, or are they just abstract representations of concrete things? 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 239:
5. Particular, specific, rather than general.
   • In his remarks to reporters, Mr Trudeau offered few concrete details but was more willing to make a connection between the downed objects. He said he would discuss the issue further with Mr Biden at a scheduled meeting in March. 2023 February 13, Abe Asher, “Trudeau suggests link between four shot-down objects despite US playing down connection”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2023:
   • "Anyhow, he gives large parties," said Jordan, changing the subject with an urban distaste for the concrete. "And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy." 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 60:
   • "How did you like my reading of the character, gentlemen?" said Mr. Waldengarver, almost, if not quite, with patronage. ¶ Herbert said from behind (again poking me), "massive and concrete." So I said boldly, as if I had originated it, and must beg to insist upon it, "massive and concrete." 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 206:
   • While everyone else offered thoughts and prayers, she made a concrete proposal to help.
   • concrete ideas
   • To German intelligence, Major —— de Coverley was a vexatious enigma; not one of the hundreds of American prisoners would ever supply any concrete information about the elderly white-haired officer with the gnarled and menacing brow and blazing, powerful eyes who seemed to spearhead every important advance so fearlessly and successfully. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 133:
   • Nothing is really permanent. But, at the same time, so many things are forever. For me, that's always been something that's hard to grasp, because I'm a very concrete thinker. I want to be like, 'This is how things are, and there's a reason.' 2022 August 24, Emily Zemler, quoting Soccer Mommy, “Soccer Mommy Searches for Freedom With 'Feel It All the Time' on 'Kimmel'”, in Rolling Stone, New York, N.Y.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2022:
   • The environments that hemmed in their isolation and the other human beings threatening it were certainly set down in the concretest detail; there is no question of their reality; yet at the center of most of Conrad's novels and stories is the solitary man fighting against what is outside him. 1954, Walter Allen, The English Novel: A Short Critical History, New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., page 370:
6. (not-comparable) Made of concrete (building material).
   • The office building had concrete flower boxes out front.
   • The video images of him banging on the concrete walls of his cell are wretched. The story of Ivan's plight was covered by everyone from People Magazine to the New York Times, who reported on the "sulking gorilla with matted hair" trapped in his concrete prison. 2020 August 21, Martin Chilton, “The tragedy of Ivan, the 'shopping mall gorilla' who drove America wild”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2021:
   • Few people passed. The man out of the last house passed on his way home; she heard his footsteps clacking along the concrete pavement and afterwards crunching on the cinder path before the new red houses. 1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “Eveline”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 42:
   • I took the stairs down to the communal area and stood resting against a concrete pillar, watching my "brother" kick up little scraps of half-frozen turf. 2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 46:
7. (obsolete) Made up of separate parts; composite.
   • The reason why this wisdom so strengthens the wise, even more then many mighty men, so that one wise man more preserves the City then many strong men; it seems to be, because Wisdom both originally and formally, is concrete with power and might: and therefore whatsoever strength can do alone, that also can Wisdom do & more. 1659, Robert Gell, An Essay Toward the Amendment of the Last English-Translation of the Bible […], page 765:
   • In this sketch Goldsmith undoubtedly shadows forth his an noyances as travelling tutor to this concrete young gentleman, compounded of the pawnbroker, the pettifogger, and the West Indian heir, with an overlaying of the city miser. 1849, Washington Irving, Life of Oliver Goldsmith, revised edition, Chicago, Ill.: Belford-Clarke Co., →OCLC, page 50:
   • I cannot wholly expreſs him, I wot not what to call him, but a certain thing altogether made of the hatred of God, of miſtruſt in God, of wings, deceits, diſcord, manſlaughters, and in a word, a thing concrete and heaped up of perjuries, and made of all kind of miſchief. a. 1556 (date written), Hugh Latimer, The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, Master Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. […], volume I, London: […] J. Scott, […], published 1758, →OCLC, pages 21–22:
8. (obsolete) Not liquid or fluid; solid.
   • 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”, in William Jackson Hooker, editor, Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany, London: Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, published 1849, →OCLC, page 42:
   • Ere the white body they could reach; and stuck, as telling how / They purpos'd to have pierc'd his flesh: his peril pierced now / The eyes of prince Eurypilus, Evemon's famous son; Who came close on, and with his dart struck duke Apisaon, / Whose surname was Phausiades, even to the concrete blood / That makes the liver: on the earth out gush'd his vital flood. [1611?], Homer, “Book XI”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC, pages 244–245:
   • And therefore by analogy with all other liquors and concretions, the form of the Chaos, whether liquid or concrete, could not be the ſame with that of the preſent Earth, or like it: And conſequently, that form of the firſt or primigenial Earth which riſe immediately out of the Chaos, was not the ſame, nor like to that of the preſent Earth. 1684, Thomas Burnet, chapter IV, in The Theory Of The Earth: […], Book I, London: […] R. Norton, for Walter Kettilby, […], page 51:
   • He [Thales] saw that the breeding of animals is in moisture; that the seeds and kernels of plants (as long as they are productive and fresh), are likewise soft and tender; that metals also melt and become fluid, and are as it were concrete juices of the earth, or rather a kind of mineral waters; […] a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, edited by James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, and Douglas Denon Heath, The Works of Francis Bacon, […], volume V, London: Longman and Co.; […], published 1858, →OCLC, page 469:
   • The oily baſis of this ammoniacal ſoap, ſeparated by acids, is deſcribed as a concrete ſubſtance, of a greyiſh yellow colour, and ſomewhat more fuſible than wax; combined with fixed or volatile alkali it forms, we are told, a firm ſoap. 1793 September, “Review of New Publications”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume LXIII, number 3, London: […] John Nichols […], Part II, page 828, column 1:

Forms

Antonyms

universal · common · catholic · unspecific · ecumenical · intangible · nonsingular · unsingular · generic · general · discrete · unparticular · nonspecific · abstract

Synonyms

concrete · individual · discrete · singular · specific · proper · peculiar · particular

Translations (131)

sc biaroni (made of concrete) · uk пе́вний (particular, perceivable, real) · pt concreto (particular, perceivable, real) · sk konkrétny (particular, perceivable, real) · yi קאָנקרעט (not abstract) · da konkret (particular, perceivable, real) · da konkret (not abstract) · yue 石屎 (made of concrete) · de genau (particular, perceivable, real) · be пэ́ўны (particular, perceivable, real) · scn cuncritu (not abstract) · cmn 混凝土的 (made of concrete) · gd rudail (not abstract) · no betong- (made of concrete) · bg определен (particular, perceivable, real) · es concreto (particular, perceivable, real) · bg бетонен (made of concrete) · ms utuh (particular, perceivable, real) · uk ді́йсний (not abstract) · ca concret (particular, perceivable, real) · bg реален (not abstract) · it concreto (not abstract) · ru конкре́тный (particular, perceivable, real) · be канкрэ́тны (particular, perceivable, real) · pl konkretny (not abstract) · crh beton (made of concrete) · nl concreet (not abstract) · ru бето́нный (made of concrete) · nl concreet (particular, perceivable, real) · cs konkrétní (not abstract) · mk определен (particular, perceivable, real) · lt konkretus (particular, perceivable, real) · pl konkretny (particular, perceivable, real) · uk спра́вжній (not abstract) · ro concret (not abstract) · cs betonový (made of concrete) · nn konkret (not abstract) · sv betong- (made of concrete) · it calcestruzzo (made of concrete) · sv konkret (particular, perceivable, real) · fr concret (not abstract) · bg конкретен (particular, perceivable, real) · it concreto (particular, perceivable, real) · da beton- (made of concrete) · lv betona (made of concrete) · ms konkret (particular, perceivable, real) · yi קאָנקרעט (particular, perceivable, real) · lv konkrēts (not abstract) · de aus Beton (made of concrete) · lv konkrēts (particular, perceivable, real) · ml മൂർത്ത (particular, perceivable, real) · yue 混凝土 (made of concrete) · yi בעטאָנען (made of concrete) · ml മൂർത്ത (not abstract) · pt concreto (made of concrete) · no konkret (particular, perceivable, real) · ru реа́льный (not abstract) · cmn 具體的 /具体的 (particular, perceivable, real) · cmn 切實的 /切实的 (particular, perceivable, real) · et konkreetne (particular, perceivable, real) · ja 具体的 (not abstract) · ga coincréiteach (made of concrete) · ms konkrit (particular, perceivable, real) · ru действи́тельный (not abstract) · hu beton (made of concrete) · mn бодит (not abstract) · ms ketara (particular, perceivable, real) · cs srostitý (not abstract) · scn riali (particular, perceivable, real) · uk конкре́тний (particular, perceivable, real) · eo reala (particular, perceivable, real) · fi kouriintuntuva (not abstract) · fi kouriintuntuva (particular, perceivable, real) · sv konkret (not abstract) · it reale (not abstract) · mn тодорхой (particular, perceivable, real) · hu konkrét (particular, perceivable, real) · sk betónový (made of concrete) · eo konkreta (not abstract) · scn cuncritu (particular, perceivable, real) · de beton- (made of concrete) · uk реа́льний (not abstract) · ja 実際の (particular, perceivable, real) · es concreto (not abstract) · es de hormigón (made of concrete) · hu konkrét (not abstract) · fi konkreettinen (not abstract) · bg действителен (not abstract) · de bestimmt (particular, perceivable, real) · el τσιμεντένιος (made of concrete) · ar مَادِّيّ (not abstract) · ru определённый (particular, perceivable, real) · eo betona (made of concrete) · la corporalis (not abstract) · ro de beton (made of concrete) · fr concret (particular, perceivable, real) · nl betonnen (made of concrete) · el συγκεκριμένος (not abstract) · de konkret (particular, perceivable, real) · sk reálny (not abstract) · tr somut (not abstract) · fi konkreettinen (particular, perceivable, real) · it cemento (made of concrete) · pl betonowy (made of concrete) · mk конкретен (particular, perceivable, real) · scn riali (not abstract) · sk hmatateľný (particular, perceivable, real) · es de concreto (made of concrete) · yue 三合土 (made of concrete) · eo palpebla (particular, perceivable, real) · sk ozajstný (not abstract) · ro concret (particular, perceivable, real) · el υλικός (particular, perceivable, real) · sk z betónu (made of concrete) · sv påtaglig (particular, perceivable, real) · fi betoni- (made of concrete) · id konkret (particular, perceivable, real) · de konkret (not abstract) · it reale (particular, perceivable, real) · sk skutočný (not abstract) · fi betoninen (made of concrete) · be рэа́льны (not abstract) · ca concret (not abstract) · cmn 具體的 /具体的 (not abstract) · sk skutočný (particular, perceivable, real) · sk reálny (particular, perceivable, real) · ja コンクリートの (made of concrete) · la concretus (not abstract) · fr de béton (made of concrete) · no konkret (not abstract) · be сапра́ўдны (not abstract)

concrete en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˈkɑŋkɹiːt] (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [ˌkɑŋˈkɹiːt] (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [ˈkɒŋkɹiːt] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɑnkɹit/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• (California) audio
• /ˌkɑnˈkɹit/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [kəŋˈkɹiːt] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin concrētus, past participle of concrescō (to curdle) from con- (with, together) + crescō (to grow, rise).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A building material created by mixing cement, water, and aggregate such as gravel and sand.
   • In the next few decades, says Van Oss, building codes will change, opening the way for innovative materials. But while new concretes may be stronger and more durable, they are also more expensive - and whether the tendency of developers and the public to focus on short-term rather than long-term costs will also change is another matter. 2007 August 2, Brandon Keim, quoting Hendrik Van Oss, “Space-Age Concrete the Answer for Failing Bridges?”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2021:
   • Various types of concrete have been used in the construction of this highway.
   • Smooth facets of buildings have given way to cobbly insides of concrete blasted apart, all the endless-pebbled rococo just behind the shuttering. 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, 1st US edition, New York: Viking Press, →ISBN, part 3: In the Zone, page 373:
2. (countable, especially, uncountable) A building material created by mixing cement, water, and aggregate such as gravel and sand. ▸ Such a material whose cement is Portland cement or a similar limestone derivative.
   • The sidewalk was made of concrete that had been poured in large slabs.
   • Within hours of the deadly van attack on April 23, 2018, the city installed a series of thigh-high concrete barriers around Union Station and other bustling spots in downtown Toronto. 2022 October 7, Ben Mussett, “'As ugly as ugly can be': Why are there still temporary barriers around Union Station four years later?”, in Toronto Star, Toronto, ON: Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2023:
3. (countable, uncountable) A term designating both a quality and the subject in which it exists; a concrete term.
   • Conceptualization is man's method of organizing sensory material. To form a concept, one isolates two or more similar concretes from the rest of one's perceptual field, and integrates them into a single mental unit, symbolized by a word. 1982, Leonard Peikoff, The Ominous Parallels: The End of Freedom in America, New York, N.Y.: Stein and Day/Publishers, →ISBN, page 331:
   • Whence follows, that the Abſtract Terms, [Entity] or [Eſſence] do properly ſignify [A Capacity of Being.] Tho' Entity is often us'd as a Concrete for the Thing it ſelf. 1697, J[ohn] S[ergeant], Solid Philosophy Asserted Against the Fancies of the Ideists: […], London: […] Roger Clavil […] Abel Roper […] Thomas Metcalf, […], page 91:
   • However, how can such a structure of concretes and abstracts be made evident, which after all means that knowledge always aims at the concrete, the unprecedented, the irreducibly dissimilar, although cognition always happens in developing similarity through abstraction? 1997, Joseph A. Bracken, Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, editors, Trinity in Process: A Relational Theology of God, New York, N.Y.: Continuum, →ISBN, page 154:
   • On the right-hand sides we have sentences asserting that an equivalence relation holds between concretes—that is, that they are identical in some respect. 2009, Alan Musgrave, “Pleonastic Platonism”, in Heather Dyke, editor, From Truth to Reality: New Essays in Logic and Metaphysics, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, pages 79–80:
   • With regard to the physical domain, concretes are as a rule perceived through the senses. 1990, Avi Sion, Future Logic, page 344:
4. (US, countable, uncountable) A dessert of frozen custard with various toppings.
   • Paradoxically richer and yet lighter than ice cream, frozen custard is softly served, and at Curly's you can have your I vanilla or chocolate flavor custard "concrete" style, with your choice of a rainbow of candy and fruit toppings whipped in. 2013, Jonanna Widner, Dallas & Fort Worth (Moon Handbooks), Berkeley, C.A.: Avalon Travel, →ISBN, page 86:
   • When Nudger and Claudia were finished eating they drove to the Ted Drewes frozen custard stand on Chippewa and stood in line for a couple of chocolate chip concretes. Drewes's concretes were delicious custard concoctions so thick that before the kids working behind the counter handed them to customers, they turned the cups upside down to demonstrate that the contents wouldn't pour out. 1990, John Lutz, Diamond Eyes, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 170:
   • A concrete has some distinct differences from a milkshake, specifically, the custard base mixture, the final texture, and the mix-ins. Technically, the common ice cream you buy at the store and use in a regular milkshake is made from a custard base. A custard is dairy thickened with the help of heated whole eggs or egg yolks, and a concrete uses a custard base that has a higher ratio of egg yolks in the recipe than the average ice cream. 2023 May 11, Allie Chanthorn Reinmann, “The Difference Between Milkshakes and Concretes (and How to Make Them)”, in Lifehacker, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2023:
   • Once there, she opts for a concrete -- Nielsen's thick, spoonable, frozen vanilla custard mixed with add-ins like Oreos or strawberries or chocolate chips and piled into a 16-ounce cup for $4.35. She can't eat it all, of course, which is why a couple of friends need to come along as well. 2003 July 16, Candy Sagon, “Nielsen’s Frozen Custard in Vienna”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2023:
5. (countable, qualifier:perfumery, uncountable) An extract of herbal materials that has a semi-solid consistency, especially when such materials are partly aromatic.
   • Monsieur Roca held another concrete under my nose and asked if it reminded me of tea. I breathed in a refreshing green note of verbena, a smell that was so quintessentially English that I felt suddenly nostalgic. It was a daffodil scent; it symbolized spring and the hope that spring always brings. And finally he held out the mimosa concrete for me. As I breathed in its heady aroma I forgot all about the noxious fumes I'd inhaled as I'd walked towards the Robertet factory. 2007, Celia Lyttelton, The Scent Trail: An Olfactory Odyssey, London […]: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 37:
   • Once the material is exhausted, the solvent containing the dissolved essential oil is distilled. This process removes the solvent, leaving behind the extracted matter, which is known as a concrete. The concrete is processed further to produce an absolute for use in perfumery. 2013, Karen Gilbert, Perfume: The Art and Craft of Fragrance, London; New York, N.Y.: CICO Books, →ISBN, page 67:
   • Concretes, the waxy extracts produced by solvent extraction, were first introduced by the house of Roure, Bertrand Fils in Grasse, in 1873, and in 1888 Joseph Robert succeeded in developing a large-scale process for the solvent extraction of fragrant plants. This process was brought into commercial production two years later. 2008, David G. Williams, The Chemistry of Essential Oils: An Introduction for Aromatherapists, Beauticians, Retailers and Students, second edition, Port Washington, N.Y.; Weymouth, Dorset: Micelle Press, →ISBN, page 226:
   • Most concretes contain about 50 per cent wax, 50 per cent volatile oil, such as jasmine; in rare cases, as with ylang ylang, the concrete is liquid and contains about 80 per cent essential oil, 20 per cent wax. The advantage of concretes is that they are more stable and concentrated than pure essential oils. 1992, Julia Lawless, The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: A Complete Guide to the Use of Aromatics in Aromatheraapy, Herbalism, Health & Well-Being, Shaftesbury, Dorset; […]: Element, →ISBN, page 37:
6. (countable, obsolete, possibly, uncountable) Sugar boiled down from cane juice to a solid mass.
   • The concrete is made by ingredients which are to remove the feculencies from the cane-juice as soon as expressed from the mill and which check fermentation; indeed juice may be kept for a week after the canes have been gruond, without turning acid, when these ingredients have been used. 1848, The Sugar Question: […], Part II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., page 115:
   • 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 Purchasing, second edition, New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 352:
   • In some areas of the Far East, for example, factories producing sugar concrete may process as little as one ton of sugar cane per day and a total of not over 100 tons of sugar cane per year. From this we go to the other extreme where factories in the West Indies and Mexico process as much as 20,000 tons of sugar cane per day and 2 to 3 million tons of sugar cane per year. 1959, An Industrial Waste Guide to the Cane Sugar Industry, page 1:
   • Also molasses in the definition refers only to the product separated from the various sugar concretes specified in the purification of these raw sugars, while in trade terms what is defined under sugar cane syrup in the standards is often called molasses, the term "open kettle molasses" being used in this connection to indicate that the cane juice has been simply boiled down in open kettles. 1910 August 18, Edward W[iley] Duckwall, “Semi-Monthly Report of National Canners' Laboratory”, in The Canner and Dried Fruit Packer, volume XXXI, number 6, Chicago, I.L.: The Canner Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 24:
7. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Any solid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particles; a compound substance, a concretion.
   • Of this kind, I ſuppoſe, the Æther, that is the medium or fluid body, in which all other bodies do as it were ſwim and move; and particularly, the Air, which ſeems nothing elſe but a kind of tincture or ſolution of terreſtrial and aqueous particles diſſolv'd into it, and agitated by it, juſt as the tincture of Cocheneel is nothing but ſome finer diſſoluble parts of that Concrete lick'd up or diſſolv'd by the fluid water. 1665, R[obert] Hooke, Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 13:
   • 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 November 17, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism from the Origin and Frame of the World. Part II. […], London: […] H[enry] Mortlock […], published 1693, →OCLC, page 11:
   • And firſt, if I would now deal rigidly with my Adverſary, I might here make a great Queſtion of the very way of Probation which he and others employ, without the leaſt ſcruple, to evince, that the Bodies commonly cali'd mixt, are made up of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, which they are pleas'd alſo to call Elements; namely that upon the ſuppos'd Analyſis made by the fire, of the former ſort of Concretes, there are wont to emerge Bodies reſembling thoſe which they take for the Elements. 1661, Robert Boyle, “Physiological Considerations Touching the Experiments Wont to be Employed to Evince either the IV Peripatetick Elements, or the III Chymical Principls of Mixt Bodies. Part of the First Dialogue.”, in The Sceptical Chymist: or Chymico-physical Doubts & Paradoxes, […], London: […] J. Cadwell for J. Crooke, […], →OCLC, page 26:
   • Some affirm it [ambergris] to be a true animal concrete, formed in balls in the body of the male ſpermaceti whale, and lodged in a large oval bag over the testicles. 1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “A′MBERGRIS”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume I (A–K), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton; […], →OCLC, column 2:

Forms

Coordinates

asphalt concrete

Descendants

คอนกรีต · kankere · കോൺക്രീറ്റ് · 콘크리트 · コンクリート

Relateds

mortar · cement · UHPC

Translations (99)

kk бетон (building material) · tk beton (building material) · nb betong (building material) · ur کنکریٹ (building material) · ar خَرَسَانَة (building material) · sk betón (building material) · gl formigón (building material) · th คอนกรีต (building material) · mfe beton (building material) · kl betonngi (building material) · br betoñs (building material) · da beton (building material) · bn কংক্রিট (building material) · ka ბეტონი (building material) · vi bê tông (building material) · crh beton (building material) · hrx Konkrett (building material) · sl beton (building material) · cs beton (building material) · gd cruadhtan (building material) · ms konkret (building material) · es nuégado (building material) · ml കോൺക്രീറ്റ് (building material) · sgs vakna (building material) · fr béton (building material) · ms konkrit (building material) · id corcoran (building material) · ja コンクリート (building material) · sv betong (building material) · fa بتن (building material) · mi raima (building material) · mt konkos (building material) · mk бетон (building material) · km បេតុង (building material) · it beton (building material) · tr dongu (building material) · hy բետոն (building material) · yo kankéré (building material) · et betoon (building material) · sw zege (building material) · it cemento (building material) · chr ᎠᏰᏍᏛᏗ (building material) · lb Bëtong (building material) · la caementicium (building material) · ro beton (building material) · cmn 砼 (building material) · ga coincréit (building material) · sq beton (building material) · pt betão (building material) · nl beton (building material) · lv betons (building material) · la opus caementicium (building material) · es mazacote (building material) · he בֶּטוֹן (building material) · ky бетон (building material) · af beton (building material) · pt concreto (building material) · it calcestruzzo (building material) · jv beton (building material) · eu hormigoi (building material) · ast formigón (building material) · be бето́н (building material) · eo betono (building material) · fo betong (building material) · yi בעטאָן (building material) · es garujo (building material) · sh бетон (building material) · min beton (building material) · ru бето́н (building material) · hi कंक्रीट (building material) · nn betong (building material) · uk бето́н (building material) · lt betonas (building material) · pl beton (building material) · jje 공거리 (building material) · is steinsteypa (building material) · ko 콘크리트 (building material) · de Beton (building material) · lo ຄອນກີດ (building material) · es concreto (building material) · is steypa (building material) · id beton (building material) · br beton (building material) · az beton (building material) · sh beton (building material) · mn бетон (building material) · tg бетон (building material) · el σκυρόδεμα (building material) · ms beton (building material) · es hormigón (building material) · hu beton (building material) · my ကွန်ကရစ် (building material) · bg бето́н (building material) · ca formigó (building material) · uz beton (building material) · cmn 混凝土 (building material) · fi betoni (building material) · es masacote (building material) · tr beton (building material)

wikidata: Q22657

concrete en · VERB

Pronunciation

• [ˈkɑŋkɹiːt] (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [ˌkɑŋˈkɹiːt] (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [ˈkɒŋkɹiːt] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɑnkɹit/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• (California) audio
• /ˌkɑnˈkɹit/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
• [kəŋˈkɹiːt] (Received-Pronunciation)
• /kənˈkɹiːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin concrētus, past participle of concrescō (to curdle) from con- (with, together) + crescō (to grow, rise).

Meanings

1. (transitive, usually) To cover with or encase in concrete (building material).
   • Frequent catastrophic floods prompted civic leaders in the 1930s to transform the river into a flood-control channel to protect the burgeoning flatlands. Nearly the entire 51-mile river bottom was concreted over, except a few spots where the water table was too high. 2010 August 1, Louis Sahagun, “A journey of discovery on the L.A. River”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2023:
   • In odd moments David had made an estimate on the cost of shooting down the menace in the eastern tunnel drifting and concreting the gash which would be left by the blasting out of the fissure material. 1919, Francis Lynde, David Vallory, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 322:
   • At first they could not remember anything out of the ordinary, and then the farmer's wife remarked that they had changed the pattern of the milking parlour by concreting the area where the cows were waiting. 1985, Reshad Feild, Here to Heal, Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books, →ISBN, page 84:
   • I hate grass, so I concreted over my lawn.
2. (transitive, usually) To solidify: to change from being abstract to being concrete (actual, real).
   • It is only such a logos that can concrete the concrete and make reality real. 1940, Kurt Riezler, Physics and Reality: […], New Haven, C.T.: Yale University Press, page 104:
   • […] the necessity of recognizing this relation outwardly and of perfecting herself in the forms required to express the recognition, had moved her to such diligence and faithfulness in practicing these forms that this exercise soon concreted itself into habit; it became automatic and unconscious; then a natural result followed: […] 1897, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “[Pudd’nhead Wilson] Chapter”, in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson: And the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 55–56:
   • Just so economics has concreted the concept of capital. The law needs a term for the material and quasi-material objects of property. 1936, C. Reinold Noyes, The Institution of Property, New York, N.Y.; Toronto, Ont.; London: Longmans, Green and Co.; Humphrey Milford, page 536:
3. (archaic, intransitive) To unite or coalesce into a solid mass.
   • At three years old, her mother observed something come from her, as she walked across the room, which, when examined, was found to be fat in a liquid state, which concreted when cold. 1813, Everard Home, “On the Formation of Fat in the Intestines of living Animals”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, London: […] W[illiam] Bulmer and Co. […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 152:
   • 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.”, in The Elements of Materia Medica; […], Part II, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, page 1183:
   • When any ſaline Liquor is evaporated to a Cuticle and let cool, the Salt concretes in regular Figures; which argues, that the Particles of the Salt before they concreted, floated in the Liquor at equal diſtances in rank and file, and by conſequence that they acted upon one another by ſome Power which at equal diſtances is equal, at unequal diſtances unequal. a. 1728 (date written), Isaac Newton, “[The Third Book of Opticks.] ”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. […], 4th edition, London: […] William Innys […], published 1730, →OCLC, page 363:
   • The Blood of ſome Perſons who have dy'd of the Plague could not be made to concrete, by reaſon of the Putrefaction already begun. 1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC, page 46:

Forms

Deriveds

prestressed concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · lunarcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · chocolate concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete desert (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete class (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · hempcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete-head (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretive (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · gypcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · bioconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · Cascade concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concolic (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · limecrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete term (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · popcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete number (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretely (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete music (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · silcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete poem (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete poet (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · shotcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · dolocrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretise (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete art (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete mite (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretism (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · calcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · neoconcretism (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete cancer (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · cast in concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete interface (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · architectural concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · reinforced concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete method (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · Roman concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete saw (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete jungle (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concreteness (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretion (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete mixer (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · pykrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · asphalt concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · unconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete shoes (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · ferroconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · neoconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretization (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · reconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete canyon (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete cutter (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · semiconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete poetry (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete verb (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · nonconcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete overcoat (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · poor man's concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · musique concrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete masonry unit (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretist (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete noun (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · mooncrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretum (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concretize (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · -crete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · concrete oil of wine (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · woodcrete (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete) · consaw (Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb concrete)

Translations (42)

it solidificare (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · fi konkretisoitua (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · es hormigonar (cover with concrete) · ru бетони́ровать (cover with concrete) · hu betonoz (cover with concrete) · da konkretisere (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · fi betonoida (cover with concrete) · ru тверде́ть (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · de einbetonieren (cover with concrete) · nl concretiseren (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · it cementificare (cover with concrete) · it concretizzare (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · cmn 凝結 /凝结 (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · ga coincréitigh (cover with concrete) · nl betonneren (cover with concrete) · de konkretisieren (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · cs betonovat (cover with concrete) · da størkne (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · de betonieren (cover with concrete) · hu megszilárdít (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · fr concrétiser (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · it concretizzarsi (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · nl concreet worden (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · cs zabetonovat (cover with concrete) · es concretar (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · da blive hård (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · bg конкретизирам се (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · da gøre til en fast masse (cover with concrete) · da blive konkret (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · el επικαλύπτω με σκυρόδεμα (cover with concrete) · nl vorm aannemen (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · fr bétonner (cover with concrete) · fr concréter (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · pt concretizar (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · it coprire/ricoprire di calcestruzzo/cemento (cover with concrete) · sv bli konkret (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · it solidificarsi (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · pt concretar (cover with concrete) · pl betonować (cover with concrete) · bg бетонирам (cover with concrete) · sv ta form (solidify, become concrete (actual, real)) · el στερεοποιούμαι (solidify, become concrete (actual, real))