Pavement
/ˈpeɪvmənt/
nounA2
Definition
Pavement means a flat, hard surface made for walking or driving. It can be the part of the street where people walk (sidewalk) or the road surface for cars. Pavements help keep people safe and clean by giving a solid place to walk or drive.
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See It in Action
The hard surface made for walking beside a road (sidewalk)
- •She walked carefully on the pavement to avoid the wet grass.
- •Children played safely on the pavement near their house.
- •The pavement was slippery after the rain.
The hard surface of a road or street where cars drive
- •The car stopped suddenly on the pavement.
- •The city workers repaired the broken pavement on the main street.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "pavement" like "floor" but outside, on streets or paths where people walk or cars drive
- ✓Picture a smooth, hard path made of stones or concrete under your feet when you walk in a city
- ✓It’s the feeling of walking on a solid, safe surface instead of dirt or grass
- ✓Sounds like "PAYV-ment" → imagine paying for a smooth path to walk on safely
- ✓Imagine city streets with clear, flat paths next to roads, where people don’t have to walk on mud
- ✓NOT like "grass" or "dirt" (soft, natural surface), pavement is hard and man-made
- ✓NOT like "road" alone, because pavement can mean the walking path (sidewalk) or the road surface
- ✓NOT like "floor" inside a house, pavement is outside and usually rougher or stronger
Try Other Words
- •Sidewalk: walking path beside a road (Use when talking only about the pedestrian area)
- •Road surface: the hard part of the street for cars (Use when referring to the driving area)
- •Footpath: path for walking (Use more in British English for walking paths)
- •Asphalt: black, hard material used for roads and pavements (Use when talking about the material itself)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: "pave" (to cover with a hard surface) + "-ment" (a suffix that turns verbs into nouns meaning the result or product)
- •Etymology: From Old French "pavement," from Latin "pavimentum," meaning a floor made of beaten or rammed earth or stone
- •Historical development: Originally meant any hard floor or surface, now mostly used for outdoor walking or road surfaces
- •Modern usage: Used to describe the hard surface people walk or drive on in cities and towns, common in British English for sidewalks
Reflect & Connect
•How does having good pavement affect the safety and comfort of people in a city?
•Can you think of places where pavement is not common? How does that change how people move around?
Fill in the blanks
1.People walk on the pavement to stay ___ from cars and traffic.
2.After the rain, the pavement can become ___ and slippery.
3.Unlike grass or dirt, pavement is a ___ surface made by people.
4.When the pavement is broken, it can be ___ by city workers.
5.The pavement next to the road is also called a ___ in some countries.
6.Cars drive on the road, but pedestrians use the pavement to ___ safely.
7.You should look both ways before stepping off the pavement onto the ___ to cross the street.