grave¹ (grāv)
n.

1. 1. An excavation for the interment of a corpse.
   2. A place of burial.
2. Death or extinction: faced the grave with calm resignation.

[Middle English, from Old English græf.]

grave² (grāv)
adj., grav·er, grav·est.

1. Requiring serious thought; momentous: a grave decision in a time of crisis.
2. Fraught with danger or harm: a grave wound.
3. Dignified and somber in conduct or character: a grave procession. See synonyms at serious.
4. Somber or dark in hue.
5. (also gräv) Linguistics.
   1. Written with or modified by the mark ( ` ), as the è in Sèvres.
   2. Of or referring to a phonetic feature that distinguishes sounds produced at the periphery of the vocal tract, as in labial and velar consonants and back vowels.

n. Linguistics (also gräv)
A mark ( ` ) indicating a pronounced e for the sake of meter in the usually nonsyllabic ending -ed in English poetry.

[French, from Old French, from Latin gravis.]

gravely grave'ly adv.
graveness grave'ness n.

grave³ (grāv)
tr.v., graved, grav·en (grā'vən), or graved, grav·ing, graves.

1. To sculpt or carve; engrave.
2. To stamp or impress deeply; fix permanently.

[Middle English graven, from Old English grafan.]

grave⁴ (grāv)
tr.v., graved, grav·ing, graves.
To clean and coat (the bottom of a wooden ship) with pitch.

[Middle English graven.]

gra·ve⁵ (grä'vā)
adv. & adj. Music
In a slow and solemn manner. Used chiefly as a direction.

[Italian, from Latin gravis, heavy. See grave².]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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