grave Hear it!

grave¹ Definition

grave (grāv)

adjective grav′·er, grav′·est

    1. requiring serious thought; important; weighty grave doubts
    2. not light or trifling in nature or in consequence; grievous a grave sin
    1. seriously threatening health, well-being, or life; critical; dangerous a grave illness
    2. seriously contrary to what is right or desirable; extremely bad a grave fault
    3. Theol. so evil as to cause spiritual death; mortal a grave sin
  3. dignified and solemn or sedate in manner or mien
  4. somber; dull grave colors
  5. low or deep in pitch

Etymology: Fr < L gravis, heavy, weighty < IE base *gwer-, heavy, mill > quern, Gr barys, heavy, Sans gurúh, grave

grave¹ Related Forms

grave′ly adverb grave′·ness noun

grave² Definition

grave (grāv)

noun

    1. a hole in the ground in which to bury a dead body
    2. any place of burial; tomb
  2. final end or death; extinction

Etymology: ME < OE græf (akin to OFris gref, Ger grab) < base of grafan, to dig: see gravethe

transitive verb graved, grav′en or graved, grav′·ing

  1. Obsolete
    1. to dig
    2. to bury
  2. Archaic
    1. to shape by carving; sculpture
    2. to engrave; incise
  3. to impress sharply and clearly; fix permanently

Etymology: ME graven < OE grafan; akin to Ger graben < IE base *ghrebh-, to scratch, scrape

grave² Idioms

have one foot in the grave

to be very ill, old, or infirm; be near death

make someone turn (over) in his (or her) grave

to be or do something that would have shocked or distressed someone now dead

grave³ Definition

grave (grāv)

transitive verb graved, grav′·ing

to clean barnacles, etc. from (the hull of a wooden ship) and coat with pitch or tar

Etymology: ME graven, prob. < OFr grave (Fr grève), beach, coarse sand (see gravel): ships were orig. beached for cleaning the hulls

grave4 Definition

grave (grä′ve)

adjective, adverb

Musical Direction slowly and with solemnity

Etymology: It

grave Synonyms

grave

modif.

  1. Important

    momentous, weighty, consequential; see important 1.

  2. Dangerous

    critical, serious, ominous; see dangerous 1.

  3. Solemn

    serious, sober, earnest; see solemn 1. See syn. study at serious.

grave Synonyms

grave

n.

  1. A burial place

    vault, sepulcher, tomb, pit, crypt, mausoleum, catacomb, long home, burial chamber, burial pit, burial place, six feet of earth, last resting place, narrow house, place of interment, mound, barrow, cromlech, clay, cairn, tumulus, dolmen, cold mud*, pine*, wooden shroud*, pit for the dead*, charnel house*, last home*, permanent address*.

  2. Death

    dissolution, decay, last sleep; see death 2.

make one turn (over) in one's grave*

do something shocking, do something disrespectful, sin, err; see misbehave.

have one foot in the grave*

be near death, be very ill, be very old, be infirm; see dying 2.

grave Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • dig: Her son even dug a grave in the garden.
  • desecrate: Even with her passenger's walking difficulties this was no reason to desecrate two graves simply for their own benefit.
  • tend: There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew.

Adjective modifier

  • unmarked: Jones is buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby St Mary's churchyard.
  • watery: One poor woman was so intoxicated that she tumbled into the water at the depot and met a watery grave.
  • shallow: We bury her in a shallow grave by the road.
  • mass: The location of mass graves appears to be rare.
  • marked: Over 160,000 soldiers died during that time; most are buried on the peninsula, not all in marked graves.
  • unpurchased: Right 4: You have the right to be buried in an unpurchased grave.

Modifies a noun

  • robber: The same place had once been grave robbers because.
  • danger: Experience | Danger in Vietnam | Joseph | Vision | Buy Have you ever been in grave danger?
  • slab: There are said to be 3 18th century grave slabs also.
  • marker: Sited on the plinth, below the horse's tail, is Horner's original wooden cross grave marker.
  • misgiving: Was any action of any kind taken or proposed in response to the grave misgivings at how our business together was being conducted?
  • concern: The prospects of BNFL running Dounreay would be viewed with grave concern by many outside the industry.

Noun used with modifier

battlefield: Notes: 1. Arundell's original battlefield grave marker is located near the entrance to Cheltenham Cemetery.

Possessives

pauper: Making no attempt to solve the crime, the local authorities rapidly transfer the corpse to a pauper's grave.

Preposition: in

  • churchyard: There are two World War I war graves in the churchyard also.
  • cemetery: There is also one war grave in the nearby cemetery.

Preposition: from

battlefield: It was enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of Arras and the Ancre and from other burial grounds.