grave

Use Grave in a sentence

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noun

an excavation made in the earth in which to bury a dead body.

any place of interment; a tomb or sepulcher: a watery grave.

any place that becomes the receptacle of what is dead, lost, or past: the grave of unfulfilled ambitions.

death: O grave, where is thy victory?

Idioms

have one foot in the grave, to be so frail, sick, or old that death appears imminent: It was a shock to see my uncle looking as if he had one foot in the grave.

make (one) turn/turn overin one's grave, to do something to which a specified dead person would have objected bitterly: This production of Hamlet is enough to make Shakespeare turn in his grave.

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Grave is always a great word to know.

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an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English græf; cognate with German Grab; see grave³

Related forms

grave·less, adjective

grave·like, adjective

grave·ward, grave·wards, adverb, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged

adjective

serious or solemn; sober: a grave person; grave thoughts.

weighty, momentous, or important: grave responsibilities.

threatening a seriously bad outcome or involving serious issues; critical: a grave situation; a grave illness.

Grammar.

unaccented.

spoken on a low or falling pitch.

noting or having a particular accent (`) indicating originally a comparatively low pitch (as in French père ), distinct syllabic value (as in English belovèd ), etc. ( opposed to acute ).

(of colors) dull; somber.

noun

the grave accent.

Origin:
1535–45; < Middle French < Latin gravis; akin to Greek barýs heavy

Related forms

grave·ly, adverb

grave·ness, noun

un·grave·ly, adverb

Can be confused: gravely, gravelly.

Synonyms
1. sedate, staid, thoughtful. Grave, sober, solemn refer to the condition of being serious in demeanor or appearance. Grave indicates a weighty dignity, or the character, aspect, demeanor, speech, etc., of one conscious of heavy responsibilities or cares, or of threatening possibilities: The jury looked grave while studying the evidence. Sober (from its original sense of freedom from intoxication, and hence temperate, staid, sedate) has come to indicate absence of levity, gaiety, or mirth, and thus to be akin to serious and grave: as sober as a judge; a sober expression on one's face. Solemn implies an impressive seriousness and deep earnestness: The minister's voice was solemn as he announced the text.

Antonyms
1. frivolous, gay.

verb (used with object), graved, grav·en or graved, grav·ing.

to carve, sculpt, or engrave.

to impress deeply: graven on the mind.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English graven, Old English grafan; cognate with German graben

Related forms

grav·er, noun

verb (used with object), graved, grav·ing. Nautical.

to clean and apply a protective composition of tar to (the bottom of a ship).

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English; perhaps akin to gravel

adjective

slow; solemn.

adverb

slowly; solemnly.

Origin:
1575–85; < Italian grave < Latin gravis heavy; see grave²

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To grave

Collins

World English Dictionary

grave¹ (ɡreɪv)

—n
1.	a place for the burial of a corpse, esp beneath the ground and usually marked by a tombstoneRelated: sepulchral
2.	something resembling a grave or resting place: the ship went to its grave
3.	the grave a poetic term for death
4.	informal have one foot in the grave to be near death
5.	to make someone turn in his grave, to make someone turn over in his grave to do something that would have shocked or distressed (someone now dead): many modern dictionaries would make Dr Johnson turn in his grave

Related: sepulchral

[Old English græf; related to Old Frisian gref, Old High German grab, Old Slavonic grobǔ; see grave³]

grave² (ɡreɪv)

—*adj*
1.	serious and solemn: a grave look
2.	full of or suggesting danger: a grave situation
3.	important; crucial: grave matters of state
4.	(of colours) sober or dull
5.	phonetics
	a. (of a vowel or syllable in some languages with a pitch accent, such as ancient Greek) spoken on a lower or falling musical pitch relative to neighbouring syllables or vowels
	b. acute Compare circumflex of or relating to an accent (`) over vowels, denoting a pronunciation with lower or falling musical pitch (as in ancient Greek), with certain special quality (as in French), or in a manner that gives the vowel status as a syllable nucleus not usually possessed by it in that position (as in English agèd)

—n
6.	a grave accent

[C16: from Old French, from Latin gravis; related to Greek barus heavy; see gravamen]

'gravely²

—*adv*

'graveness²

—n

grave³ (ɡreɪv)

—vb , graves, graving, graved, graved, graven
1.	to cut, carve, sculpt, or engrave
2.	to fix firmly in the mind

[Old English grafan; related to Old Norse grafa, Old High German graban to dig]

grave⁴ (ɡreɪv)

—vb
	(tr) nautical to clean and apply a coating of pitch to (the bottom of a vessel)

[C15: perhaps from Old French gravegravel]

grave⁵ (ˈɡrɑːvɪ)

—*adj, —adv*
	music to be performed in a solemn manner

[C17: from Italian: heavy, from Latin gravis]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

grave

O.E. græf "grave, ditch," from P.Gmc. *graban (cf. O.S. graf, O.Fris. gref, O.H.G. grab "grave, tomb;" O.N. gröf "cave," Goth. graba "ditch"), from PIE base *ghrebh-/*ghrobh- "to dig, to scratch, to scrape" (cf. O.C.S. grobu "grave, tomb"); related to grafan "to dig" (see

grave (v.)). From Middle Ages to 17c., they were temporary, crudely marked repositories from which the bones were removed to ossuaries after some years and the grave used for a fresh burial. "Perpetual graves" became common from c.1650. To make (someone) turn in his grave "behave in some way that would have offended the dead person" is first recorded 1888. Graveyard shift "late-night work" is c.1907, from earlier nautical term, in reference to the loneliness of after-hours work.

grave

1540s, from M.Fr. grave, from L. gravis "weighty, serious, heavy," from PIE base *gru- (cf. Skt. guruh "heavy, weighty;" Gk. baros "weight," barys "heavy in weight," often with the notion of "strength, force;" Goth. kaurus "heavy"). Greek barys (opposed to kouphos) also was used figuratively, of suffering,

sorrow, sobbing, and could mean "oppressive, burdensome, grave, dignified, impressive."

grave

O.E. grafan (p.t. grof, pp. grafen) "to dig, carve," from P.Gmc. *grabanan (cf. O.N. grafa, O.Fris. greva, O.H.G. graban, Goth. graban "to dig, carve"), from the same source as grave (n.). Its M.E. strong pp., graven, is the only part still active, the rest of the word supplanted

by its derivative, engrave.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

grave (grāv)
adj.
Serious or dangerous, as a symptom or disease.

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Grave definition

Among the ancient Hebrews graves were outside of cities in the open field (Luke 7:12; John 11:30). Kings (1 Kings 2:10) and prophets (1 Sam. 25:1) were generally buried within cities. Graves were generally grottoes or caves, natural or hewn out in rocks (Isa. 22:16; Matt. 27:60). There were family cemeteries (Gen. 47:29; 50:5; 2 Sam. 19:37). Public burial-places were assigned to the poor (Jer. 26:23; 2 Kings 23:6). Graves were usually closed with stones, which were whitewashed, to warn strangers against contact with them (Matt. 23:27), which caused ceremonial pollution (Num. 19:16). There were no graves in Jerusalem except those of the kings, and according to tradition that of the prophetess Huldah.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

grave

see dig one's own grave; from the cradle to the grave; one foot in the grave; turn in one's grave.