I. grave ˈgrāv verb
( graved -vd ; grav·en -vən ; or graved ; graving ; graves )
Etymology: Middle English graven, from Old English grafan; akin to Old High German & Gothic graban to dig, Old Norse grafa, Old Slavic pogreti to bury
transitive verb
1. archaic : dig , excavate
2.
a. : to carve out or give shape to by cutting with a chisel : sculpture
they graved the figure of a calf
b. : to carve or cut (as letters or figures) on some hard substance : engrave
graved the date of his death on the blank space on the stone
c. : to remove (some portion of a printing surface) by cutting (as with a burin) — used with out
grave out the redundant comma
3. : to impress (as a thought) deeply : fix indelibly
you could do worse than grave his noble words in your mind
intransitive verb
1. archaic : excavate , dig
2.
a. : carve 2
b. : to practice engraving
II. grave noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English græf; akin to Old High German grab grave, Old Norse gröf; derivatives, from the root of Old English grafan to dig
1.
a. : an excavation in the earth for use as a place of burial ; broadly : a place of interment : tomb , sepulcher
b. : a final ending (as by death or destruction)
the grave comes to all men
the grave of all our hopes
2.
a. obsolete : an excavated pit, ditch, or trench
b. now dialect England : a storage clamp ; especially : one dug partly into the ground
III. grave noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle Dutch grāve, grēve — more at burgrave
1. obsolete : steward , overseer
2. : a former elective township officer in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England
IV. grave transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English graven
: to clean (the bottom of a wooden ship) of encrusting growths and treat with pitch — see graving dock
V. grave “, in sense 6 “ or ˈgräv or ˈgrȧv adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin gravis heavy — more at grieve
1.
a. obsolete , of a person : occupying a position of consequence and dignity
b. obsolete : based on knowledge and understanding : authoritative
c. : deserving serious consideration or thought : important , weighty
a grave issue
d.
(1) : involving or resulting in serious consequences : likely to produce real harm or damage
a grave wrong
ran a very grave risk
(2) : very serious : dangerous to life — used of an illness or its prospects
a grave disease
a grave prognosis
2. : having a serious, sedate, and dignified appearance or demeanor
watching his grave face
a grave man little given to anger
3. archaic : of great weight : heavy
4. : dull in color : somber , sober , drab
the grave plain dress of the countryfolk
5. of a sound : low in pitch — contrasted with acute
6.
a. of an accent mark : having the form `
b. : marked with a grave accent
a grave e in caffè
c. : of the variety indicated by a grave accent
a grave intonation
Synonyms: see serious
VI. grave ˈgrāv, -ä-, -ȧ- noun
( -s )
: a grave accent ` used to show that a vowel is pronounced with a fall of pitch (as in ancient Greek), that a vowel has a certain quality (as over e in French), that a final e is stressed and close and that a final o is stressed and open (as in Italian), that a syllable has a degree of stress between maximum and minimum (as in phonetic transcription), or that the e of the English ending -ed is in a line of poetry not silent but is to be pronounced ə̇ for the sake of the meter (as in “this cursèd day”)
VII. gra·ve ˈgrä(ˌ)vā, -rȧ(- adverb (or adjective)
Etymology: Italian, heavy, grave, from Latin gravis
: slowly and solemnly — used as a direction in music