grave

English

Pronunciation

• SAMPA: /greIv/

Adjective

Comparative: graver; superlative: gravest.

See Grief

1. Of great weight; heavy; ponderous. (Obs.)

   His shield grave and great. --w:Chapman.

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. --w:Shak.

   A grave and prudent law, full of moral equity. --W:Milton.

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.

1. The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone. --- W:Moore (Encyc. of Music).

(b) Slow and solemn in movement.

{Grave accent}. (Pron.) See the Note under Accent, n., 2.

Usage: {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.

Synonyms

• solemn
• sober
• serious
• sage
• staid
• demure
• thoughtful
• sedate
• weighty
• momentous
• important

Verb

Transitive

Imp. : graved; p. p.: graven or graved; p. pr. & vb. n.: gGraving}.

Cf. Grave, n., Grove, n.

1. To dig. (Obs.) w:Chaucer.

   He hath graven and digged up a pit. --Ps. VII 16 (w:Book of Prayer).

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. --Ex. XXVIII.,9.

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. --w:Chaucer.

4. To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly.

   O! may they graven in thy heart remain. --w:Prior.

5. To entomb; to bury. (Obs.) --w:Chaucer.

   Lie full low, graved in the hollow ground. --w:Shak.

6. (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.

Intransitive

1. To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.

Noun

See grave to carve.

1. 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. --w:John XI.,17.

{Grave wax}, adipocere.

Suffix

• -grave

A final syllable signifying a ruler, as in landgrave, margrave. See Margrave.