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any of various dark-colored, solid, bituminous substances, native in various areas of the earth and composed mainly of hydrocarbon mixtures.
a similar substance that is the by-product of petroleum-cracking operations.
a mixture of such substances with gravel, crushed rock, or the like, used for paving.
to cover or pave with asphalt.
of, relating to, or containing asphalt:
asphalt tile.
Contemporary Examples

asphalt Jungle is sometimes considered the first heist movie, but for me it all starts with Rififi.
Book Bag: The Best Heists in Fact, Film, and Fiction Matthew Quirk June 5, 2014

I saw his legs buckle and his entire body flinch as he fought the impulse to flatten himself against the asphalt.
The Ted Kennedy I Knew Chris Matthews February 16, 2009

At home we were surrounded by nature, but all we see here is asphalt.
Fukushima Nuclear Cleanup Bogged Down in Bureaucracy, Could Take Decades Lennox Samuels March 10, 2013

The white blooms dotted the asphalt and swirled in the breeze under the orange glow of the street lamps.
How the Dead Come Home From Afghanistan Nick Willard May 8, 2014

Twice the mounted sentry at the gates was changed while I wandered up and down the asphalt walk.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show Robert W. Chambers February 19, 2014

Historical Examples

Enclosed within these lines, the site of the massive old keep is shown by two circular strings of stones on the asphalt.
The Story of Paris Thomas Okey

In this way, the asphalt is held in position, and is an absolute prevention of dampness.
Rural Hygiene Henry N. Ogden

He raised himself to peer across at the windows where the blithe figures danced, tiny mnads of the gutter, Bacch of the asphalt.
Our Square and the People in It Samuel Hopkins Adams

A mixture of sand and asphalt will creep on slopes of 1½ to 1, but asphalt concrete will not.
Concrete Construction Halbert P. Gillette

This is melted in an iron pan over a fire hot enough to melt the asphalt perfectly.
The Invention of Lithography Alois Senefelder

noun
any of several black semisolid substances composed of bitumen and inert mineral matter. They occur naturally in parts of America and as a residue from petroleum distillation: used as a waterproofing material and in paints, dielectrics, and fungicides
a mixture of this substance with gravel, used in road-surfacing and roofing materials
(modifier) containing or surfaced with asphalt
verb
(transitive) to cover with asphalt
n.

early 14c., “hard, resinous mineral pitch found originally in Biblical lands,” from Late Latin asphaltum, from Greek asphaltos “asphalt, bitumen,” probably from a non-Greek source, possibly Semitic [Klein, citing Lewy, 1895]. Another theory holds it to be from Greek a- “not” + *sphaltos “able to be thrown down,” taken as verbal adjective of sphallein “to throw down,” in reference to a use of the material in building.

Meaning “paving composition” dates from 1847 and its popular use in this sense established the modern form of the English word, mostly displacing asphaltum, asphaltos. As a verb meaning “to cover with asphalt,” from 1872.
asphalt
(ās’fôlt’)
A thick, sticky, dark-brown mixture of petroleum tars used in paving, roofing, and waterproofing. Asphalt is produced as a byproduct in refining petroleum or is found in natural beds.