road-makingn.
/ˈrəʊdˌmeɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈroʊdˌmeɪkɪŋ/ The act or process of constructing a road or roads.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > paving and road-building > [noun] > road-building
road-making1763
road building1833
roading1838
1763 J. Hawkins Observ. State Highways 35 He is what every one would wish him to be, a skillful Man in the Business of Road-making.
1774 Ess. Constr. Roads 8 Road making seems to be far from so simple an Operation, as it is oft imagined.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 285 In no instance is the police of Aberdeenshire so defective as in road-making.
1811 J. L. McAdam Rep. Comm. Highways & Turnpike Roads 31 in Parl. Papers 1810–11 III. 855 Road-making..is even worse understood in Scotland than in England.
1878 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera VIII. lxxxvi. 55 The paving and improved road-making in cities and towns.
1931 A. D. Hall Soil (ed. 4) i. 19 Weathered flints are always preferred for road-making.
1962 Greece & Rome 9 173 Our knowledge of the details of military and civilian road-making is gathered almost entirely from archaeological observation.
1990 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 10 Nov. Tests were being done on the use of the material [sc. coarse quartzite] in road-making.
Compounds
General attributive.
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1821 Port Folio Dec. 308 The roads through New Jersey are very indifferent; indeed, after heavy rains they are almost impassible... This I attributed to a want of sufficient descent for the water, and a scarcity of road making materials.
1854 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 7 Dec. 36 A branch of manufacture [sc. carriage-building] which was usually voiceless, though, to the dishonour of road-making science, not so noiseless as it ought to be.
1890 Daily News 8 Dec. 2/6 Road-making tools and implements are in good request.
1928 Trade Marks Jrnl. 18 Jan. 82 Tarvia... Raw or partly prepared mineral substances, for use in the manufacture of road-making materials.
1970 R. Beilby No Medals for Aphrodite 86 The Depression..relegating him to that scrap-heap of the unemployed..one week's work in every three..with road-making gangs in the bush.
2004 Sunday Tribune (Ireland) (Nexis) 14 Nov. 12 The scale of destruction which modern road-making machinery,..and road building can inflict on a landscape.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1763