asphalt jungle

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word asphalt jungle. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word asphalt jungle, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say asphalt jungle in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word asphalt jungle you have here. The definition of the word asphalt jungle will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofasphalt jungle, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

From W. R. Burnett's novel The Asphalt Jungle (1949).

Pronunciation

Noun

asphalt jungle (plural asphalt jungles)

  1. (idiomatic) A city or urban area, where the landscape is covered by pavement and the environment is alienating and unsafe.
    • 1962 July 27, “Manhattan's Lower Depths”, in Time (film review of Strangers in the City), archived from the original on 2012-03-07:
      The sound track tingles with cool jazz, the dry atonal music of the asphalt jungle.
    • 1976, A. Robert Lee, “Violence Real and Imagined: The World of Chester Himes' Novels”, in Negro American Literature Forum, volume 10, number 1, page 13:
      Harlem comes through as an urban hothouse mean with exotic hustle and violence, a tangible asphalt jungle with its own abrasive laws of motion.

Translations

See also