gravel
/ˈɡɹævəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.70 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
Uncountable
noun
A type or grade of small rocks, differentiated by mineral type, size range, or other characteristics.
Uncountable
noun
Gravel cycling, a discipline in cycling different from road cycling, mountain biking or cyclocross, for a large part on gravel roads, typically with a dedicated gravel bike.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The great use of coffee in France is supposed to have abated the prevalency of the gravel, for where coffee is used as a constant beverage, the gravel and the gout are scarcely known."
- "The defendant below hired the horse to go from Cocksackie to Schodack, and the next day after his arrival at the latter place, the horse was found to be lame in one foot; and the lameness increasing, the defendant below was obliged to leave the horse there, and hire another with which to return. About four weeks after, the horse was brought home, and showed signs of gravel working out above the hoof."
- "'Looks like pus in the foot to me.' 'I'll bet you're right,' Farnon said. 'They call it gravel around here, by the way. What do you suggest we do about it?'"
- "A malady that was rare, but which because of its peculiarity elicited much comment, was "night blindness" or "gravel.""
- "We kept quietly on our way until we reached a place in the road that had been freshly graveled, and where the surface was covered with stones just suited to our use."
- "The physician was so gravelled and amazed withal, that he had not a word more to say."
Etymology
From Middle English gravel, grauel, from Old French gravele, diminutive of grave (“gravel, seashore”), from Medieval Latin grava, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *grāwā (“gravel, pebbles”) (compare Breton groa, Cornish grow, Welsh gro), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroh₁weh₂, from *gʰreh₁w- (“to grind”). Compare also Old English græfa (“coal”).