Grave Meaning
/ɡɹeɪv/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn excavation in the earth as a place of burial.
nounAny place of interment.
Sentence Examples
The boy dug a grave for his dog that had died.
The boy dug a grave for his dead pet.
The police have expressed grave concern about the missing child's safety.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old cemetery had a moss-covered ____ that marked where her grandmother was buried.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The situation in the war-torn region remains ____, with many people still lacking access to food and water.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He had lain in the grave four days."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 11:17:
"Let mee not be ashamed, O Lord, for I haue called vpon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the graue."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 31:17:
"They reached the cemetery. The men went right down to a place in the grass where a grave was dug. They ranged themselves all round; and while the priest spoke, the red soil thrown up at the sides kept noiselessly slipping down at the corners."
— 1856, Gustave Flaubert, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Madame Bovary, Part III, Chapter X:
"[…]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![…]"
— a. 1769, unknown, The Cuckoo, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2019, lines 9–12:
"[…]balanced on the biggest wave you race towards an early grave."
— 1973, “Breathe”, in Roger Waters (lyrics), David Gilmour and Richard Wright (music), The Dark Side of the Moon, performed by Pink Floyd:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The old cemetery had a moss-covered ____ that marked where her grandmother was buried.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The situation in the war-torn region remains ____, with many people still lacking access to food and water.