concrete

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin concrētus, past participle of concernō (con- + cernō).

adj

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.
   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
   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, page 244
   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. 6 February 2016, James Zogby, “Israel's prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National, archived from the original on 2022-01-20
   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." 21 August 2023, 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 2023-08-23
2. 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 2023-01-01, page 113, column 2
3. Particular, specific, rather than general.
   While everyone else offered thoughts and prayers, she made a concrete proposal to help.
   concrete ideas
   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
4. (not comparable) Made of concrete (building material).
   The office building had concrete flower boxes out front.
5. (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
6. (obsolete) Not liquid or fluid; solid.
   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
   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
   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

noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A building material created by mixing cement, water, and aggregate such as gravel and sand.
   The road 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. 7 October 2022, 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 2023-08-26
2. (logic) 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, page 331
   With regard to the physical domain, concretes are as a rule perceived through the senses. 1990, Avi Sion, Future Logic, page 344
   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, 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, pages 79–80
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 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, 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, page 86
   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. 11 May 2023, Allie Chanthorn Reinmann, “The Difference Between Milkshakes and Concretes (and How to Make Them)”, in Lifehacker, archived from the original on 2023-06-08
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 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, 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. 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, page 37
   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, page 226
   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, page 67
5. (possibly obsolete) 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 in this connection to indicate that the cane juice has been simply boiled down in open kettles. 18 August 1910, 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
   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
   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, page 352
6. (obsolete) Any solid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particle; a compound substance, a concretion.

verb

1. (usually transitive) 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
   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, page 84
2. (usually transitive) To solidify: to change from being abstract to being concrete (actual, real).
   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
   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
3. (intransitive, archaic) 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