Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use concrete in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Concrete means real, actual, tangible. Example: “Fuzzy videotapes and distorted sound recordings are not concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists.”

Examples of concrete by meaning

adjectiveReal, 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.
  • 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

adjectiveBeing or applying to actual things, rather than abstract qualities or categories.

  • 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
  • "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...

adjectiveParticular, specific, rather than general.

  • While everyone else offered thoughts and prayers, she made a concrete proposal to help.
  • "Anyhow, he gives large parties," said Jordan, changing the subject with an urban distaste for the concrete.1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 60
  • For me, that's always been something that's hard to grasp, because I'm a very concrete thinker.2022 August 24, Emily Zemler, quoting Soccer Mommy, “Soccer Mommy Searches for Freedom With 'Feel It All the Time' on 'Kimmel'”, in Rolling...

adjectiveMade of concrete (building material).

  • The office building had concrete flower boxes out front.
  • 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

nounA 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
  • 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...

nounSuch 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...

nounA term designating both a quality and the subject in which it exists; a concrete term.

  • 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
  • With regard to the physical domain, concretes are as a rule perceived through the senses.1990, Avi Sion, Future Logic, page 344
  • 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...

nounA 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.1990, John Lutz, Diamond Eyes, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 170
  • 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 $4.35.2003 July 16, Candy Sagon, “Nielsen’s Frozen Custard in Vienna”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company...
  • A concrete has some distinct differences from a milkshake, specifically, the custard base mixture, the final texture, and the mix-ins.2023 May 11, Allie Chanthorn Reinmann, “The Difference Between Milkshakes and Concretes (and How to Make Them)”, in Lifehacker, archived...

More sentences with concrete

  • A bed of concrete makes a strong subsurface for an asphalt parking lot.From the entry bed
  • Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.From the entry impact
  • Concrete below ground must be fully tanked to prevent water uptake.From the entry tank
  • He fell off his bike and skinned his knee on the concrete.From the entry skin
  • He launched into a long-winded discussion of the relative merits of asphalt and concrete.From the entry long-winded
  • I'll take off the concrete and steel for this construction project.From the entry take off
  • Be careful not to snag your stockings on that concrete bench!From the entry snag
  • I asked around and heard nothing concrete, just flutters of accusations of bad behavior.From the entry flutter
  • Before this street was paved with asphalt concrete, it was paved with cobbles.From the entry asphalt concrete
  • After a day of hauling concrete, she was pretty well tuckered out.From the entry tuckered out
  • Once the concrete had spalled extensively, the bridge could no longer pass an honest inspection.From the entry spall
  • The aggressiveness of various sulfate salts towards concrete is partly related to solubility.From the entry aggressiveness
  • The homeless man had built a little shelter, complete with cook-stove, beneath a concrete overpass.From the entry overpass
  • The caravans' concrete hardstanding was demolished by the council soon after.From the entry hardstanding
  • The impregnation of reinforced and prestressed concrete highway structures using hydrophobic pore-lining impregnants.From the entry impregnant
  • He hefted the sack of concrete into the truck.From the entry heft
  • You might search in vain if you go looking for personification in his works: his style was very concrete.From the entry personification
  • He placed the glass jar gingerly on the concrete step.From the entry gingerly

Meaning of concrete

  1. adjective Real, actual, tangible.
  2. adjective 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. adjective Equipped with a faithful functor to X (called a base category), in which case C is called a concrete category over X.

Full definition of concrete

Questions about concrete in a sentence

How do you use concrete in a sentence?
Concrete is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “Fuzzy videotapes and distorted sound recordings are not concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists.”
What is a short sentence with concrete?
“He hefted the sack of concrete into the truck.”
What does concrete mean?
Concrete means real, actual, tangible.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: concrete (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use concrete in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/concrete. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.