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

graver, gravest 

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 Frenchpère ), distinct syllabic value (as in Englishbelovèd ), etc. (acute ).

5. (of colors) dull; somber.

noun

1. Phonetics, Orthography.,  the grave accent.

grave

³

[greyv]

verb (used with object)

graved , graven, graved , graving .

1. to carve, sculpt, or engrave.

2. to impress deeply.

   graven on the mind.

grave

⁴

[greyv]

verb (used with object)

Nautical.

graved, graving 

1. to clean and apply a protective composition of tar to (the bottom of a ship).

grave

⁵

[grah-vey, grah-ve]

adjective

1. slow; solemn.

adverb

1. slowly; solemnly.

grave

¹

/ 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

grave

²

/ ɡreɪv /

noun

1. a place for the burial of a corpse, esp beneath the ground and usually marked by a tombstone

2. something resembling a grave or resting place

   the ship went to its grave

3. a poetic term for death

4. informal,  to be near death

5. 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

/ ɡreɪv /

verb

1. to cut, carve, sculpt, or engrave

2. to fix firmly in the mind

grave

⁴

/ ɡreɪv /

verb

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

grave

⁵

/ ˈɡrɑːvɪ /

adjective

1. music to be performed in a solemn manner

Other Word Forms

• graveness noun
• gravely adverb
• graveless adjective
• gravelike adjective
• graveward adverb
• gravewards adverb
• ungravely adverb
• graver noun

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

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

Origin of grave²

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

Origin of grave³

Old English grafan; related to Old Norse grafa, Old High German graban to dig

Origin of grave⁴

C15: perhaps from Old French grave _gravel

Origin of grave⁵

C17: from Italian: heavy, from Latin gravis

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. 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.

2. 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.

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

But he also said it would be a grave mistake to view the goal merely as housing the veterans of Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

Hollywood performers and writers in recent years have voiced grave concerns about the rapid development of generative AI.

From Los Angeles Times

The visitors told her they were there to visit the grave sites of their grandparents and noticed the gates were rarely open.

From Los Angeles Times

During the trial, the jury heard prison intelligence logs recorded how Morgan had a history of threatening "grave violence", including death threats, to coerce fellow inmates and prison staff, dating back to 2011.

From BBC

Mr and Mrs Townend, who visit their daughter's grave every day, have called for more regulation of the funeral industry.

From BBC