HOW TO PRONOUNCE
bitumen
/bɪˈtumən/
Press play to hear how to pronounce bitumen.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does bitumen mean?
noun
- A sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum, burning with a bright flame. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, etc.; Mineral pitch.
- Any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petrolea, and even the light, volatile naphthas.
- Roads sealed with bitumen, as opposed to dirt roads.
More meanings (2)
noun
- Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil.
verb
- To cover or fill with bitumen.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/bɪˈtumən/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Breydenbach calls the Dead Sea "the chimney of hell," and repeats the old story as to the miraculous solvent for its bitumen.
From Paleolithic times men were in the habit of cutting celts or hatchets in chalk, bitumen, and other fragile substances, which were certainly of no practical use.
More book examples (3)
The use of pitch and bitumen for smearing the vessel inside and out, though unusual even in Mesopotamian shipbuilding, is precisely the method employed in the kuffah's construction.
To go to Paris, however, was hardly more attractive than to remain at Havre, for Bernard had a lively vision of the heated bitumen and the glaring frontages of the French capital.
This naphtha, in other respects resembling bitumen, is so subject to take fire, that before it touches the flame, it will kindle at the very light that surrounds it, and often inflame the intermediate air also.