Graving

grave ¹  (grv)

n.

1.

a. An excavation for the interment of a corpse.

b. A place of burial.

2. Death or extinction: faced the grave with calm resignation.

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[Middle English, from Old English græf; see ghrebh-² in Indo-European roots.]

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grave ²  (grv)

adj. grav·er, grav·est

1. Requiring serious thought; momentous: a grave decision in a time of crisis.

2. Fraught with danger or harm: a grave wound.

3. Dignified and somber in conduct or character: a grave procession. See Synonyms at serious.

4. Somber or dark in hue.

5. also (gräv) Linguistics

a. Written with or modified by the mark ( ), as the è in Sèvres.

b. Of or referring to a phonetic feature that distinguishes sounds produced at the periphery of the vocal tract, as in labial and velar consonants and back vowels.

n. Linguistics also (gräv)

A mark ( ) indicating a pronounced e for the sake of meter in the usually nonsyllabic ending -ed in English poetry.

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[French, from Old French, from Latin gravis; see g^wer-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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gravely adv.

graveness n.

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grave ³  (grv)

tr.v. graved, grav·en (grvn) or graved, grav·ing, graves

1. To sculpt or carve; engrave.

2. To stamp or impress deeply; fix permanently.

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[Middle English graven, from Old English grafan; see ghrebh-² in Indo-European roots.]

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grave ⁴  (grv)

tr.v. graved, grav·ing, graves

To clean and coat (the bottom of a wooden ship) with pitch.

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[Middle English graven.]