Word.ws English Dictionary

concrete

UK/ˈkɒnkɹiːt//ˌkɑnˈkɹit/

concrete adjective: real, actual, tangible.

Adjective

concrete (comparative concreter, superlative concretest)

  1. Real, actual, tangible.
    • Fuzzy videotapes and distorted sound recordings are not concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists.
    • Once arrested, I realized that handcuffs are concrete, even if my concept of what is legal wasn't.
    1. 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.
    2. (broadly, topos theory) Equipped with a faithful functor to X (called a base category), in which case C is called a concrete category over X.
  2. Being or applying to actual things, rather than abstract qualities or categories.
    • 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, […]...
    • 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....
    Antonyms:
    intangible, abstract
  3. Particular, specific, rather than general.
    • While everyone else offered thoughts and prayers, she made a concrete proposal to help.
    • concrete ideas
  4. (not comparable) Made of concrete (building material).
    • The office building had concrete flower boxes out front.
    • 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
  5. (obsolete) Made up of separate parts; composite.
    • 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...
    • 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...1659, Robert Gell, An Essay Toward the Amendment of the Last English-Translation of the Bible […], page 765
    Antonyms:
    discrete
  6. (obsolete) Not liquid or fluid; solid.
    • 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 /...[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...
    • 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...

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.
    • 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
    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.
      • 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....
  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
    • 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
  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
    • 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
  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
    • 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....2007, Celia Lyttelton, The Scent Trail: An Olfactory Odyssey, London […]: Bantam Books, →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
    • 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...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...
  6. (obsolete) Any solid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particles; a compound substance, a concretion.
    • 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...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...
    • 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...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...

Verb

concrete (third-person singular simple present concretes, present participle concreting, simple past and past participle concreted)

  1. (transitive, usually) To cover with or encase in concrete (building material).
    • I hate grass, so I concreted over my lawn.
    • 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
  2. (transitive, usually) To solidify: to change from being abstract to being concrete (actual, real).
    • […] 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...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...
    • 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.
    • 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...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: […]...
    • 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

concrete meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

concrete in Hindi

building material
कंक्रीट kaṅkrīṭ

concrete in Tamil

பைஞ்சுதை, சிறுதாக உடைக்கப்பட்ட கற்கள், நீர், திண்காரை, கற்காரை, பைஞ்சுதைப் பூச்சு

concrete in Marathi

काँक्रीट, काँक्रिट, कोंक्रिट

concrete in Urdu

building material
کنکریٹ kankrīṭ
More languagesFewer languages
concrete in Bengali
কংক্রিট koṅkriṭ
concrete in Telugu
కాంక్రీటు, కాంక్రీట్, కాంక్రీటింగ్
concrete in Malayalam
മൂർത്ത mūṟtta, കോൺക്രീറ്റ് kōṇkrīṟṟŭ
concrete in Kannada
ಜಲ್ಲಿಗಾರೆ, ಕಾಂಕ್ರೀಟು, ಗಚ್ಚುಗಾರೆ, ಗಟ್ಟಿ
concrete in Punjabi
ਠੋਸ ṭhos, ਮੁਜੱਸਮ mujassam
concrete in Gujarati
દ્રવ્યવાચક dravyavācak
concrete in Odia
କଂକ୍ରିଟ୍, କଂକ୍ରିଟ, କନ୍କ୍ରିଟ୍
concrete in Assamese
পকা poka
concrete in Nepali
कन्क्रीट, कन्क्रिट, कन्क्रिटिङ
concrete in Arabic
مَادِّيّ māddiyy, خَرَسَانَة ḵarasāna
concrete in Malay
utuh, ketara, konkrit, konkret
concrete in Indonesian
konkret, beton, corcoran
concrete in Persian
بتن beton
concrete in Thai
คอนกรีต kɔn-grìit
concrete in Vietnamese
bê tông
concrete in Myanmar
ကွန်ကရစ် kwanka.rac

Examples of concrete in a sentence

  • 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:
  • 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".2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian...
  • 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...
  • The closer it comes to becoming concrete the more abstract it seems.1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 239:

All 40 example sentences with concrete

Synonyms of concrete

Antonyms

4 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of concrete

Forms of concrete

Adjective
comparativeconcreter
superlativeconcretest
Noun
pluralconcretes
Verb
third-person singular presentconcretes
present participleconcreting
past participleconcreted
pastconcreted

Origin of concrete

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

Words formed from concrete

Phrases with concrete

8 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with concrete

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about concrete

What does concrete mean?
Concrete means real, actual, tangible.
What is concrete in Hindi?
Concrete in Hindi is कंक्रीट (kaṅkrīṭ). See Concrete meaning in Hindi.
How do you use concrete in a sentence?
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.
What part of speech is concrete?
Concrete can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce concrete?
Concrete is pronounced /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/ (UK).

Words near concrete in the dictionary

  1. concrescences
  2. concrescent
  3. concrescible
  4. concrescive
  5. concreta
  6. concrete
  7. concrete art
  8. concrete cancer
  9. concrete cancers
  10. concrete canyon
  11. concrete canyons

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: concrete (page history and authors); concrete (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); concrete (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); concrete (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); concrete (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਠੋਸ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); દ્રવ્યવાચક (Gujarati) (page history and authors); concrete (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); পকা (Assamese) (page history and authors); concrete (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-concrete.ogg.

Cite this entry: “concrete.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/concrete. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.