What does "grave" mean?
An excavation in the earth as a place of burial.
Grave
/ɡɹeɪv/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An excavation in the earth as a place of burial.
- Grammar: grave is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: grave accent, tomb, abject, abominable.
- Useful contrasts: witty, cheekier, daftest.
- Usage evidence: The boy dug a grave for his dog that had died.
How to use "grave"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "grave" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "grave" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "grave" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "grave" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "grave" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "grave accent" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "grave", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An excavation in the earth as a place of burial. countable, uncountable
"He had lain in the grave four days."
- 2 A grave accent, the diacritic mark `.
- 3 A count, prefect, or person holding office. historical
- 4 A kilogram. obsolete
"At the origin of the metric system the new unit of weight was called the grave, and was equivalent to the kilogram. The denomination grave would in some respects have been preferable to kilogram."
- 5 a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone) wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 Any place of interment. broadly, countable, uncountable
- 7 a mark (‘) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation wordnet
- 8 Any place containing one or more corpses. countable, uncountable
- 9 death of a person wordnet
- 10 Death, destruction. broadly, uncountable
"[…]Meeting is pleasure, parting is a grief; / An inconstant lover is worse than a thief; / A thief can but rob you, and take all you have, / An inconstant lover will bring you to the grave![…]"
- 11 Deceased people; the dead. broadly, uncountable
""Hold your jaw, woman! I've had enough to vex me to-day without you startin' your tantrums. You're jealous of the grave. That's wot's the matter with you." "And her brats can insult me as they like - me that 'as cared for you these five years.""
Verb
- 1 To dig. obsolete, transitive
"He hath graven and digged up a pit."
- 2 To clean, as a vessel's bottom, of barnacles, grass, etc., and pay it over with pitch — so called because graves or greaves were formerly used for this purpose. obsolete, transitive
- 3 carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface wordnet
- 4 To carve or cut, as letters or figures, on some hard substance; to engrave. intransitive, obsolete
"Thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel."
- 5 shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To carve out or give shape to, by cutting with a chisel; to sculpture. obsolete, transitive
"to grave an image"
- 7 To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly. intransitive, obsolete
"O! may they graven in thy heart remain."
- 8 To entomb; to bury. obsolete, transitive
"[…]And lie full low, graved in the hollow ground."
- 9 To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving. intransitive, obsolete
Adjective
- 1 Characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness; not cheerful.
"[Mercuti] Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man."
- 2 Low in pitch, tone etc.
"The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone."
- 3 Serious, in a negative sense; important, formidable.
"Israel’s behaviour is doing grave damage to the Palestinian people and to any hope for peace."
- 4 Dull, produced in the middle or back of the mouth. (See Grave and acute on Wikipedia.Wikipedia) dated
- 5 Influential, important; authoritative. obsolete
"An illiterate fool sits in a mans seat; and the common people hold him learned, grave, and wise."
Adjective
- 1 causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm wordnet
- 2 of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought wordnet
- 3 dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The boy dug a grave for his dog that had died."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "grave"?
Common synonyms include: grave accent, tomb, abject, abominable, accent grave, acute.
How do you use "grave" in a sentence?
The boy dug a grave for his dog that had died.
How do you pronounce "grave"?
Pronounced /ɡɹeɪv/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English grave, grafe, from Old English græf, grafu (“cave, grave, trench”), from Proto-West Germanic *grab, from Proto-Germanic *grabą, *grabō (“grave, trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with West Frisian grêf (“grave”), Dutch graf (“grave”), Low German Graf (“a grave”), Graff, German Grab (“grave”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian grav (“grave”), Icelandic gröf (“grave”). Related to groove.
Etymology 2
From Middle English graven, from Old English grafan (“to dig, dig up, grave, engrave, carve, chisel”), from Proto-Germanic *grabaną (“to dig”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with Dutch graven (“to dig”), German graben (“to dig”), Danish grave (“to dig”), Swedish gräva (“to dig”), Icelandic grafa (“to dig”).
Etymology 3
From Middle French grave, a learned borrowing from Latin gravis (“heavy, important”). Compare Old French greve (“terrible, dreadful”). Doublet of grief.
Etymology 4
Inherited from Middle English greyve. Doublet of graaf (borrowed from the Dutch cognate graaf (“count, earl”)) and graf (borrowed from the German cognate Graf (“count, earl”)).
Etymology 5
* As an English surname, from Middle English greyve (“steward”). * Also as an English surname, variant of Grove. * As a French surname, from the noun gravier (“gravel”). * As a north German surname, variant of Graf; also from the Low German noun Graf (“ditch, grave”) (see grave).