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View synonyms for grave

grave

1

[ greyv ]

noun

  1. an excavation made in the earth in which to bury a dead body.
  2. any place of interment; a tomb or sepulcher:

    a watery grave.

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

    the grave of unfulfilled ambitions.

  4. death:

    O grave, where is thy victory?



grave

2

[ greyv; grahv ]

adjective

, grav·er, grav·est
  1. serious or solemn; sober:

    a grave person;

    grave thoughts.

    Synonyms: thoughtful, staid, sedate

    Antonyms: carefree, frivolous

  2. weighty, momentous, or important:

    grave responsibilities.

  3. threatening a seriously bad outcome or involving serious issues; critical:

    a grave situation;

    a grave illness.

  4. Phonetics.
    1. spoken on a low or falling pitch.
    2. Orthography. noting or having a particular diacritic (`) indicating originally a comparatively low pitch (as in French père ), distinct syllabic value (as in English belovèd ), etc. ( acute ).
  5. (of colors) dull; somber.

noun

  1. Phonetics, Orthography. the grave accent.

grave

3

[ greyv ]

verb (used with object)

gravedgravinggraven or graved
  1. to carve, sculpt, or engrave.
  2. to impress deeply:

    graven on the mind.

grave

4

[ greyv ]

verb (used with object)

, Nautical.
, graved, grav·ing.
  1. to clean and apply a protective composition of tar to (the bottom of a ship).

grave

5

[ grah-vey; Italian grah-ve ]

adjective

adverb

grave

1

/ ɡreɪv /

noun

  1. a place for the burial of a corpse, esp beneath the ground and usually marked by a tombstone sepulchral
  2. something resembling a grave or resting place

    the ship went to its grave

  3. See death
    the grave
    the grave a poetic term for death
  4. have one foot in the grave informal.
    have one foot in the grave to be near death
  5. to make someone turn in his grave
    to make someone turn in his graveto 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



grave

2

/ ɡreɪv /

adjective

  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
    1. (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
    2. 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 ) Compare acute circumflex

noun

  1. a grave accent

grave

3

/ ˈɡrɑːvɪ /

adjective

  1. music to be performed in a solemn manner

grave

4

/ ɡreɪv /

verb

  1. to cut, carve, sculpt, or engrave
  2. to fix firmly in the mind

grave

5

/ ɡreɪv /

verb

  1. tr nautical to clean and apply a coating of pitch to (the bottom of a vessel)

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Derived Forms

  • ˈgraveness, noun
  • ˈgravely, adverb

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Other Words From

  • graveless adjective
  • gravelike adjective
  • graveward gravewards adverb adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of grave1

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English græf; cognate with German Grab; grave 3

Origin of grave2

First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin gravis; akin to Greek barýs “heavy”

Origin of grave3

First recorded before 1000; Middle English graven, Old English grafan; cognate with German graben

Origin of grave4

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; perhaps akin to gravel

Origin of grave5

First recorded in 1575–85; from Italian grave, from Latin gravis “heavy”; grave 2

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Word History and Origins

Origin of grave1

Old English græf; related to Old Frisian gref, Old High German grab, Old Slavonic grobǔ; see grave ³

Origin of grave2

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

Origin of grave3

C17: from Italian: heavy, from Latin gravis

Origin of grave4

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

Origin of grave5

C15: perhaps from Old French grave gravel

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. 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.

  2. make (one) turn / turn over in 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.

More idioms and phrases containing grave

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

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Synonym Study

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.

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Example Sentences

“Big picture, the way I’m looking at it, I’m gonna go to my grave thinking I helped the city save millions and millions of dollars by helping the city secure control of two long-term assets,” Wood said.

The architects are likely rolling in their graves at this use of their plans, but our attention to detail allowed the producers of the virtual commencement video to transition seamlessly from the animated dome to images of the real one.

We need to use it as something that makes the situation more grave, rather than the only reason to give them protection.

You’ll see it a lot on social media today in contexts that aren’t so grave and somber … like that chicken sandwich.

Cassidy and Bradley’s team studied DNA from 44 individuals buried in various Irish tombs and graves dating to between roughly 6,600 and 4,500 years ago.

That distant whirring sound you hear is a long-dead Greek physician spinning in his grave.

A “komitetchik par excellence,” a man of “outstanding mediocrity,” and “the grave digger of the revolution.”

“I read articles that say ‘here’s another white girl joining in on the dance party on the grave of hip hop,” she says.

“The amount of literal brainwork needed to do his job too such a toll on him that it sent him to an early grave,” Goode says.

You have focused on individual events and ideas in your books about Lincoln rather than the cradle-to-grave biographical approach.

The water suggested the fear that he must be nearing the open sea, and he became supernaturally grave.

After his death crowds flocked to his grave to touch his holy monument, till the authorities caused the church yard to be shut.

They carried the two bodies together on some litters, and buried them both in the same grave.

He, therefore, did as he said; made no further observation, but conducted himself to his young friend with grave distance.

As soon as he had seen his mother, he would set off again, and never cease searching till he had found either Ramona or her grave.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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