Definition of the word grave1

Pronunciation of vocabulary grave1

grave1noun

Grave1

/ɡreɪv//ɡreɪv/

Origin of the word grave1

Word OriginOld English græf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch graf and German Grab. The adjective dates from late 15th cent. (originally of a wound in the sense ‘severe, serious’): from Old French grave or Latin gravis ‘heavy, serious’.

Example of vocabulary grave1namespace

meaning

a place in the ground where a dead person is buried

  • We visited Grandma's grave.
  • British war graves in France and Belgium
  • The plague victims were buried in a mass grave.
  • There were flowers on the grave.
Extra examples:
  • A mass grave has been discovered in a wood outside the village.
  • His body is buried in an unmarked grave.
  • She puts fresh flowers on her husband's grave every Sunday.
  • Some of the graves have been desecrated by vandals.
  • The body was found in a shallow grave in a nearby wood.
  • The grave was marked by a simple headstone.
  • The mourners threw flowers into the open grave.
  • Whenever he goes home he visits his mother's grave.
meaning

a way of referring to death or a person’s death

  • Is there life beyond the grave (= life after death)?
  • He followed her to the grave (= died soon after her).
  • She smoked herself into an early grave (= died young as a result of smoking).
Extra examples:
  • He rescued her from a watery grave (= from drowning)
  • I'll be in my grave by the time that happens!
  • The old lady still influences the family from beyond the grave.

Idioms of vocabulary grave1

dig your own grave | dig a grave for yourself
to do something that will have very harmful results for you
from the cradle to the grave
a way of referring to the whole of a person’s life, from birth until death
have one foot in the grave
(informal)to be so old or ill that you are not likely to live much longer
turn in his/her grave
likely to be very shocked or angry
  • My father would turn in his grave if he knew.

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