grave 
grove, pp. grarcii, grave, rarely weak, (/raved), 
< AS. grufun (pret. gi'of, pi. grofon, pp. graf en), 
dig, delve, bury, also carve, engrave (also in 
comp. dgrafau, inscribe, begrufan, bury), = OS. 
*</rablian (only in comp. bigrabhaii, bury, and 
in deriv. gmf, a grave) = OFries. greva, i/mni 
= D. MLG. LG. griiren, dig, delve (in comp. D. 
MLG. bey-raven, bury), = OHG. ijraban, MHG. 
G-. grabeit, dig, also cut, carve, engrave (G. in 
comp. eingraben, engrave, begraben, bury), = 
Icel. graf a, dig, also carve, engrave, bury, = Sw. 
i/riifva, dig (in comp. begrafva, bury), = Dan. 
grave, dig (in comp. begrave, bury), = Goth. <jra- 
ban, dig (in comp. bigraban, surround with a 
trench). The Gr. yp&fyuv, scratch, scrape, graze, 
later draw, write, inscribe (see graphic, gram'*, 
grammar, etc.), is supposed to be akin. In the 
sense ' engrave ' the E. word has merged with 
F. graver (> D. graveren = Dan. gravere = Sw. 
gvavera, engrave) = Sp. grabar = Pg. gravar, 
< ML. graeare, grave, engrave, of Teut. origin, 
and not from the Gr. word; cf. engrave 1 . The 
Ir. grafaim, I write, inscribe, scrape, W. crafa, 
scrape, scratch, are prob. of E. origin. Hence 
grave 2 , q. v.] 1. To dig; delve. [Now only 
prov. Eng.] 
Of bodi wente thei bar, withoute any wede, 
& hadde grave on the ground many grete cavya. 
Alexander and Dindimus, 1. 6. 
And next the shryne a pit than doth she grave. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 678. 
2f. To bury ; entomb. 
Hire metynge sholde bee 
Ther [where] kyng Xynus was graven under a tree. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 785. 
In that Feld ben many Tombes of Cristene Men ; for 
there ben mauye Pilgrymes graven. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 93. 
There's more gold. 
Do you damn others, and let this damn you, 
And ditches grave you all. Shak., T. of A., Iv. 3. 
3. To cut or incise, as letters or figures, on 
stone or other hard substance with an e<~ 
or pointed tool ; engrave. 
Thou shall take two onyx stones, and gram on them the 
names of the children of Israel. Ex. xxviii. 9. 
Swords grave no name on the long-memoried rock 
But moss shall hide it. Lowell, Voyage to Vinland. 
4. To carve ; sculpture ; form or shape by cut- 
ting with a tool: as, to grave an image. 
And [they] grauedtn a greate ston a God as it were, 
I-corue [carved] after a Kyng full craftie of werk. 
AlisaiinderofMacetloine(E. E. T. S.X 1. 569. 
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. 
Ex. xx. 4. 
5f. To make an impression upon; impress 
deeply. 
For ay with gold men may the herte grave 
Of hym that set is upon coveitise. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 1377. 
grave 2 (grav), . [< ME. grave, grafe (prop, 
dat., the nom. graf producing E. dial, and Sc. 
graff: see graffi), < AS. grief, grra/(dat. gnefe, 
'grafe), a grave, also a trench (= OS. graf = 
OFries. gref= D. graf= MLG. LG. graf, MLG. 
also grave = OHG. grab, MHG. grap, G. grab, 
neut., a grave, = Icel. grof, fern., a pit, hole, 
also a grave, = Sw. graf= Dan. grav, a grave, 
= Goth, graba, fern., a trench), < graf an (= 
Goth, ijraban, etc.), dig : see grave 1 , v.] 1. An 
excavation in the earth, now especially one in 
which a dead body is or is to be buried ; a place 
for the interment of a corpse ; hence, a tomb ; 
a sepulcher. 
Whanne y am deed & leid in graue, 
Ther is no thing thanne that saueth me 
But good or yuel that y do haue. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.X p. 86. 
In my grate which I have digged for me In the land of 
Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Gen. 1. 5. 
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Gray, Elegy. 
2. Figuratively, any scene or occasion of utter 
loss, extinction, or disappearance : as, specula- 
tion is the gr-ace of many fortunes. 
But slav'ry ! Virtue dreads it as her grave: 
Patience itself is meanness in a slave. 
Cowper, Charity, 1. 163. 
3. Sometimes, in the authorized version of the 
Old Testament, the abode of the dead; Hades. 
In the revised version the original Hebrew word Sheol is 
substituted in some places ; in others the old rendering 
is retained, with Sheol in the margin ; and in Ezek. xxxi. 
15 hell is used instead of the grave. See helH . 
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go 
down to the grave [revised version, "go down to Sheol"]. 
Job xxi. 13. 
Some one walking over one's grave, an expression 
arising from an old superstition that an unaccountable 
sensation of shivering or creeping of the flesh is an omen 
of approaching death. 
Miss (shuddering). Lord, there's somebody walking over 
my grave. Surift, Polite Conversation, i. 
2607 
Sometimes xowfbody would walk over my grave, and 
give me a creeping in the back. 
//. Klmjsley, Geolfry Hanilyn, xxxi. 
grave 3 (grav), a. and . [< F. grave = Sp. Pg. 
It. grave, < L. gravis, heavy, weighty, deep, low, 
important, serious, etc., = Gr. jlapif, heavy (see 
barometer, barytone, etc.), = Skt. guru, heavy, 
important (see guru), = Goth, kaurs, heavy, 
burdensome. Hence (from L. gravis) ult. gravi- 
ty, grarous, grief, grieve 1 , aggravate, aggredge, 
aggrieve, etc.] I. a. If. Having weight; heavy; 
ponderous. 
His shield grave and great. Chapman. 
2. Solemn; sober; serious: opposed to Ugh tor 
jovial: as, a man of a grave deportment. 
They were aged and graue men, and of much wisedome 
and experience in th' affaires of the world. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 5. 
They [the Arabs] sometimes, like the Italians, employed 
verse as the vehicle of instruction in grave and recondite 
sciences. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 8. 
With an aspect grave almost to sadness, ... he ad- 
dressed the two houses. Bancroft, Hist. Const., II. 362. 
3. Plain ; not gay or showy: as, grave colors. 
Grave clothes make dunces seeme great clarkes. 
Cotgrave. 
Ah, think not, mistress ! more true dulness lies 
In Folly's cap than Wisdom's grave disguise. 
Pope, Dunciad, iv. 240. 
4. Important; momentous; weighty; having 
serious import. 
The sum of money which I promised 
... to his holiness, 
For clothing me in these grave ornaments [a cardinal's 
habit], Shak., 1 Hen. VI., v. 1. 
True, it is a grave power. But what is all government 
but the exercise of grave powers ? 
W. Phillips, Speeches, p. 179. 
Grave error is involved in the current notion of the 
present day, that no moral responsibility attaches to the 
result [of skeptical inquiry]. 
H. N. Oxenham, Short Studies, p. 276. 
5. In acoustics, deep; low in pitch: opposed to 
acute Grave accent. See accent. Grave harmon- 
ic. See harmonic. Grave movement, in music, a slow or 
solemn movement. =Syn. 2. Grave, Serious, Solemn; staid, 
sage, sedate, thoughtful, demure. The first three words 
have considerable range of meaning. Serious may express 
the mood, look, manner, etc., that are natural when men 
are not in the opposite or gay and jocular mood. Grave 
generally goes beyond this, implying an especial serious- 
ness, with perhaps especial reason for it. Solemn, start- 
ing from the idea of religious, covers anything that in- 
cludes the idea of impressiveness or awe : as, a solemn 
appeal. See sober. 
On him fell, 
Altho' a grave and staid God-fearing man. 
Yet lying thus inactive, doubt and gloom. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
No childish play 
To me was pleasing ; all my mind was set 
Serious to learn and know, and thence to do, 
What might be public good. Milton, P. E., i. 203. 
Nor wanting power to mitigate and 'suage 
With solemn touches troubled thoughts. 
Hilton, P. L., i. 557. 
II. n. The grave accent; also, the sign of 
the grave accent (*). 
grave 3 (grav), v. t. ; pret. and pp. graved, ppr. 
graving. [< grave 3 , a.] In music, to render 
grave, as a note or tone. [Bare.] 
grave 4 (grav), v. t. ; pret. and pp. graved, ppr. 
graving. [More correctly greave; < graves 1 , 
q. v.] To clean (a ship's bottom) by burning 
or scraping off seaweeds, barnacles, etc., and 
paying it over with pitch. 
Southward of Celebes is situated a little Hand, where 
Sir Francis Drake graued his Shippe. 
Purehas, Pilgrimage, p. 539. 
Having reached the brink of the lake, he found there a 
little boat made of fat beef, and well graved with suet. 
0' Curry, Anc. Ir., II. xxiii. 
grave 5 (grav), n. [< MD. grave, graef, D. graaf 
= OFries. greva, NFries. greafa = MLG. greve, 
grave, LG. greve, grave, grebe (cf. Icel. greifi = 
Sw. grefve = Dan. greve, < LG. ; and see greeve 1 ) 
= OHG. *grdfj6, grdvo, krdvjo, krdvo, gardbo, 
gerdbo, MHG. grave, grceve, G. graf (ML. grafio, 
gravio, grapltio), a, count, prefect, governor, 
overseer (in OHG. also a surgeon) : a name ap- 
plied to various executive and judicial officers, 
and later as a title of rank ; origin uncertain, 
the forms being indeterminate and their rela- 
tion to the equiv. AS. gerefa ( > E. reeve*) doubt- 
ful. In one view, the word is derived from a lost 
verb represented by a deriv. in Goth, gagrefts, 
gagreifts, a command; in another, the Teut. 
forms are derived, through the ML. graphic, in 
the lit. sense 'a writer, 'hence 'a notary, public 
officer,' etc., like ML. graphiarius, F. greffier, a 
notary (see graff'%, greffier), from Gr. ypdijieiv, 
write (see grave 1 , graphic) ; and other deriva- 
tions are suggested. In any case, the AS. gerefa 
gravel 
is unrelated, unless it stands for *grefa: see 
greeve 1 , reeve 1 .] A count; a prefect; in Ger- 
many and the Low Countries () formerly, 
a person holding some executive or judicial of- 
fice: usually in composition with a distinctive 
term, as landgrave, margrave ("mark-grave), bur- 
<iniri; ("burg-grave), dike-grave, etc.; (b) now 
merely a title of rank or honor. 
Upon St. Thomas's day, the palsgrave and grave Maurice 
were elected knights of the garter. 
Baker, Chronicles, an. 1612. 
grave 8 (gra've), a. [It., heavy, slow, ,graye: 
see grave 9 .'] In music, slow; solemn: noting 
passages to be so rendered. 
grave-clothes (grav'kloTHz), n.pl. The clothes 
or dress in which a dead body is interred ; cere- 
ments, in the wider sense. [As used in John 
xi. 44, properly cerements in the restricted sense. 
See cerement. 1 ] 
Like a ghost he seem'd whose graoeclothes were unbound. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. xi. 20. 
grave-digger (grav'dig"er), n. 1. One whose 
occupation is the digging of graves. 2. A bee- 
tle of the genus Necrophorua : so called from its 
habit of burying dead bodies. Also named sex- 
ton. See cut under burying-beetk: 3. A dig- 
ger-wasp, as of the genus Spliex, which digs 
holes in the clay for its eggs, with which it 
deposits a store of disabled caterpillars and 
spiders, to serve as food for the grub when 
hatched. [Jamaica.] 
gravedo (gra-ve'do), n. [L., catarrh, cold in 
the head, lit. heaviness, < gravis, heavy: see 
graves.] In med., catarrh of the upper air-pas- 
sages ; coryza. 
gravel (grav'el), n. [< ME. gravel, gravelle, < 
OF. gravels, gravelle, grevelle, gravel (F. gravelle, 
in pathology), = Pr. gravel, gravel, equiv. to OF. 
gravier, F. gravier, gravel (in both senses), < 
OF. grave, greve, gravel, sand, F. greve, a sandy 
beach; prob. of Celtic origin: cf. Bret, grottan, 
gravel, Corn, grow, gravel, sand, W. gro, pebbles. 
Cf. also Skt. grdvan, a stone, rock.] 1. Coarse 
sand ; a mass of pebbles or of pebbles and sand 
mixed ; stone in a mass of small irregular frag- 
ments. 2. Specifically, in geoL, the rolled and 
water-worn material formed from fragments 
of rock under the combined influence of atmo- 
spheric agencies and currents of water. Most 
gravel consists in large part of pebbles of quartz and crys- 
talline rock, mixed with sand in which quartz greatly pre- 
dominates, because quartz forms a large part of the most 
widely distributed rocks of the earth's crust, and is not 
subject to any chemical change, not decomposing like 
feldspar and mica, but being only broken up into smaller 
and smaller fragments ; so that there may be in the same 
bed components of the gravel of every size, from that of 
the boulder several feet in diameter down to the grain of 
sand not so large as a pin's head. 
A welle, where-of the springes were f eire and the water 
clere, and the graucll so feire that it semed of fyn siluer. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 308. 
And he schal gadre hem into batel whos noumbre is 
as the grauel of the see. Wyclif, Rev. xx. 8. 
I wind about, and in and out, . . . 
With many a silvery waterbreak, 
Above the golden gravel. 
Tennyson, The Brook. 
3. In pathol., small concretions or calculi re- 
sembling sand or gravel which form in the kid- 
neys, pass along the ureters to the bladder, and 
are expelled with the urine ; the disease or mor- 
bid state characterized by such concretions. 
Catarrhs, loads o' gravel in the back, lethargies. 
Shak., T. and C., v. 1. 
4. In brewing, the appearance of yeast-cells 
swimming in clear beer in the form of fine 
gravel. 
It is a bad sign if the beer, on account of very fine sub- 
stances suspended in it, Is not transparent, when it has 
an appearance as if a veil was drawn over it, when no 
"gravel " can be perceived. 
Thausing, Beer (trans. ), p. 596. 
Cemented gravel. See cement. High gravels, grav- 
els of Tertiary age, occupying the beds of ancient rivers, 
and left by the erosion of the present streams high above 
the detrital material of recent age. [California, U. 8.] 
It was not long before it was discovered that the so- 
called high gravel* ibat is, the detrital deposits of Ter- 
tiary age contained gold, although the quantity was so 
small that washing it in the ordinary way was not profit- 
able. Encyc. Brit., IV. 701. 
gravel (grav'el), v. t. ; pret. and pp. graveled or 
gravelled, ppr. graveling or gravelling. [< grav- 
el, w.] 1. To cover with gravel; fill or choke 
with gravel : as, to gravel a walk ; to gravel a 
fountain. 
O thou, the fountain of whose better part 
Is earth 'd and gravell'd up with vain desire. 
Quarles, Emblems, L 7. 
2. To bury. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 3. To 
cause to stick in gravel or sand. [Rare.] 
