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. unaccented.
   2. spoken on a low or falling pitch.
   3. 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

1. slow; solemn.

adverb

1. slowly; solemnly.

grave

¹

/ ɡreɪv /

verb

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

grave

²

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

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 /

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

Derived Forms

• ˈgraveness, noun
• ˈgravely, adverb

Other Words From

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of grave¹

C15: perhaps from Old French grave gravel

Origin of grave²

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

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

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

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 .

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.

Example Sentences

And, if the aftermath of past humanitarian disasters has taught us anything, sending all of the funds to any one central actor would be a grave mistake.

From Salon

It has also expressed “grave concern” over a pact between Pyongyang and Moscow, which pledges that the two counties will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.

From BBC

The response from three senators seeking the position of Senate Majority Leader would have been yet another grave disappointment to Madison.

From Salon

“He had some ability — I don’t know how — to quickly dig a grave,” Menninger said.

From Los Angeles Times

In Kabul, an elderly father took us to the grave of his son.

From BBC