| / English Dictionary |
GRAVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: graven
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
Example:
he put flowers on his mother's grave
Synonyms:
grave; tomb
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("grave" is a kind of...):
place; spot; topographic point (a point located with respect to surface features of some region)
Meronyms (parts of "grave"):
gravestone; headstone; tombstone (a stone that is used to mark a grave)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grave"):
burial chamber; sepulcher; sepulchre; sepulture (a chamber that is used as a grave)
mastaba; mastabah (an ancient Egyptian mud-brick tomb with a rectangular base and sloping sides and flat roof)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation
Synonyms:
grave; grave accent
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("grave" is a kind of...):
accent; accent mark (a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Death of a person
Example:
from cradle to grave
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("grave" is a kind of...):
death; demise; dying (the time when something ends)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm
Example:
a life-threatening disease
Synonyms:
dangerous; grave; grievous; life-threatening; serious; severe
Classified under:
Similar:
critical (being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought
Example:
the weighty matters to be discussed at the peace conference
Synonyms:
grave; grievous; heavy; weighty
Classified under:
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Derivation:
graveness; gravity (a manner that is serious and solemn)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises
Example:
the judge was solemn as he pronounced sentence
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
serious (concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities)
Derivation:
graveness; gravity (a manner that is serious and solemn)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface
Example:
the lovers scratched their names into the bark of the tree
Synonyms:
engrave; grave; inscribe; scratch
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "grave" is one way to...):
carve; chip at (engrave or cut by chipping away at a surface)
Verb group:
engrave; etch (carve or cut a design or letters into)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "grave"):
character (engrave or inscribe characters on)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it
Example:
She is sculpting the block of marble into an image of her husband
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "grave" is one way to...):
carve (form by carving)
Verb group:
sculpt; sculpture (create by shaping stone or wood or any other hard material)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Context examples:
You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged you headforemost out of the grave.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
They were grave, it is true, and thoughtful, but of an invincible serenity.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“You feared, as I understand, that very grave results might follow from the details of this treaty becoming known.”
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I have a duty to do in protecting her grave from outrage; and, by God, I shall do it!
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
It must be confessed, however, that the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very possible that he is indeed the culprit.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Also were there shaking of heads and prophetic mutterings, and the women looked pityingly at Ikeega, and her face was grave and sad.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
And that it was grave, I instanced his statement that he intended to stay and die on Endeavour Island.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I could tell by my companion’s graver face that he also had seen.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Mr. Darcy, with grave propriety, requested to be allowed the honour of her hand, but in vain.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
“You are over-grave to-day, John,” the prince answered.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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