Dave

//deɪv// name, verb

name, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To assuage; soften; mitigate; relieve; calm; alleviate (pain). UK, dialectal, transitive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A diminutive of the male given name David, also used as a formal given name.

    "David, with its final "d", sounds finished and complete, whereas Dave just kind of hangs there in the air, indefinitely. - - - Worse, if your name is Dave, the only possible nickname is "Davey", which makes you sound like you should be wearing a coonskin cap."

  2. 2
    A surname from Gujarati from Gujarati દવે (dave, “(one who has studied) two Vedas”).
  3. 3
    A female given name. rare

Antonyms

All antonyms
hurt

Example

More examples

"Dave never returned to school again."

Etymology

From Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), from Old English dēafian (“to wax or become deaf”) and Old Norse deyfa (“to make deaf, make blunt, numb, soothe, allay”). Cognate with dialectal Norwegian døyva (“to deafen, make dull”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.