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Grave   /greɪv/   Listen
noun
Grave  n.  An excavation in the earth as a place of burial; also, any place of interment; a tomb; a sepulcher. Hence: Death; destruction. "He bad lain in the grave four days."
Grave wax, adipocere.



adjective
Grave  adj.  (compar. graver; superl. gravest)  
1.
Of great weight; heavy; ponderous. (Obs.) "His shield grave and great."
2.
Of importance; momentous; weighty; influential; sedate; serious; said of character, relations, etc.; as, grave deportment, character, influence, etc. "Most potent, grave, and reverend seigniors." "A grave and prudent law, full of moral equity."
3.
Not light or gay; solemn; sober; plain; as, a grave color; a grave face.
4.
(Mus.)
(a)
Not acute or sharp; low; deep; said of sound; as, a grave note or key. "The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone."
(b)
Slow and solemn in movement.
Grave accent. (Pron.) See the Note under Accent, n., 2.
Synonyms: Solemn; sober; serious; sage; staid; demure; thoughtful; sedate; weighty; momentous; important. Grave, Sober, Serious, Solemn. Sober supposes the absence of all exhilaration of spirits, and is opposed to gay or flighty; as, sober thought. Serious implies considerateness or reflection, and is opposed to jocose or sportive; as, serious and important concerns. Grave denotes a state of mind, appearance, etc., which results from the pressure of weighty interests, and is opposed to hilarity of feeling or vivacity of manner; as, a qrave remark; qrave attire. Solemn is applied to a case in which gravity is carried to its highest point; as, a solemn admonition; a solemn promise.



verb
Grave  v. t.  (past graved; past part. graven; pres. part. graving)  (Naut.) To clean, as a vessel's bottom, of barnacles, grass, etc., and pay it over with pitch; so called because graves or greaves was formerly used for this purpose.



Grave  v. t.  (past graved; past part. graven; pres. part. graving)  
1.
To dig. (Obs.) Chaucer. "He hath graven and digged up a pit."
2.
To carve or cut, as letters or figures, on some hard substance; to engrave. "Thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel."
3.
To carve out or give shape to, by cutting with a chisel; to sculpture; as, to grave an image. "With gold men may the hearte grave."
4.
To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly. "O! may they graven in thy heart remain."
5.
To entomb; to bury. (Obs.) "Lie full low, graved in the hollow ground."



Grave  v. i.  (past graved; past part. graven; pres. part. graving)  To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Grave" Quotes from Famous Books



... Inventory is but small—Let me see—First, one pretty well made Machine, call'd a Body, of a very good Motion, fit for several uses—one pretty conceited Head-Piece, that will fit any body's Coxcomb,—when 'tis grave and dull, 'twill fit an Alderman; when politick and busy, a Statesman; turn it to Intrigue, 'twill fit a City Wife; and to Invention, it will ...
— The Works of Aphra Behn - Volume IV. • Aphra Behn

... for their departure. They were to sail on the very day after Alaric's liberation, so as to save him from the misery of meeting those who might know him. And now Harry came with Mrs. Woodward to bid farewell, probably for ever on this side the grave, to her whom he had once looked on as his own. How different were their lots now! Harry was Mr. Norman of Normansgrove, immediately about to take his place as the squire of his parish, to sit among brother magistrates, to decide about roads and poachers, parish rates and other all-absorbing ...
— The Three Clerks • Anthony Trollope

... other. The man was following his wife and his one child to the grave. "Nothing almost sees miracles but misery," says Kent in King Lear. Because this man was miserable, he saw a miracle where was no miracle, only something very good. The thing was true and precious, yea, a message from heaven. Those deep, upturned, silent ...
— A Rough Shaking • George MacDonald

... decided to investigate elsewhere. I tried my luck at two side entrances and then at the back. Not a sound. Not even the mew of a cat. Palace of the Sleeping Beauty! Not to be discouraged, I wandered along till I found the stables—fine big ones, and a huge garage. Locked up and silent as the grave. Farther on I discovered a gardener's house: door fastened, blinds down. I went back and told our chauffeur: Jekyll, his name is. He knew no more about Mr. Moore's affairs than we—only what he'd read in the papers; ...
— The Lightning Conductor Discovers America • C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson and A. M. (Alice Muriel)

... authority beyond the length of their opinions. For, being no longer under the terror of the law, which, he said, restrained him from making his defence, he was then bound to give that satisfaction to his masters and the world which every man in honor is bound to do, when a grave accusation is brought against him. But this business of the law I wish to sleep from this moment, till the time when it shall come before you; though I suspect, and have had reason (sitting in committees ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. X. (of 12) • Edmund Burke


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