carve
/kɑɹv/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.41 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cut meat in order to serve it.
verb
To shape to sculptural effect; to produce (a work) by cutting, or to cut (a material) into a finished work, especially with cuts that are curved rather than only straight slices.
Example Sentences
- "My good blade carves the casques of men, / My tough lance thrusteth sure, / My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure."
- "You carve the roast and I’ll serve the vegetables."
- "to carve a name into a tree"
- "The facades of the buildings fronting upon the avenue within the wall were richly carven[…]."
- "The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise."
- "[…] who could easily have carved themselves their own food."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kerbaną Proto-West Germanic *kerban Old English ċeorfan Middle English kerven English carve From Middle English kerven, from Old English ceorfan, from Proto-West Germanic *kerban, from Proto-Germanic *kerbaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”). Cognate with West Frisian kerve, Dutch kerven, Low German karven, German kerben (“to notch”); also Old Prussian gīrbin (“number”), Old Church Slavonic жрѣбии (žrěbii, “lot, tallymark”), Ancient Greek γράφειν (gráphein, “to scratch, etch”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *gerbʰ-, kerven, ceorfan, *kerban, *kerbaną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kɑɹv/
- British English: /kɑːv/