concr.

Noun

concrete (countable and uncountable, plural concretes)

1. A building material created by mixing cement, water, and aggregate such as gravel and sand.
   • Various types of concrete have been used in the construction of this highway.
   1. (especially) 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.
2. A term designating both a quality and the subject in which it exists; a concrete term.
   • 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
3. (US) A dessert of frozen custard with various toppings.
   • 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...1990, John Lutz, Diamond Eyes, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 170
4. (perfumery) An extract of herbal materials that has a semi-solid consistency, especially when such materials are partly aromatic.
   • 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...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
5. (obsolete, possibly) 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

See all 18 meanings of concrete