gravel
Americannoun
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small stones and pebbles, or a mixture of these with sand.
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Pathology.
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multiple small calculi formed in the kidneys.
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the disease characterized by such concretions.
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verb (used with object)
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gravels,
present (3rd person singular)
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graveled,
past participle, past
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gravelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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graveling,
present participle
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gravelling
present participle (especially British)
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to cover with gravel.
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to bring to a standstill from perplexity; puzzle.
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Informal. to be a cause of irritation to.
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Obsolete. to run (a ship) aground, as on a beach.
adjective
noun
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an unconsolidated mixture of rock fragments that is coarser than sand
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geology a mixture of rock fragments with diameters in the range 4–76 mm
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pathol small rough calculi in the kidneys or bladder
verb
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to cover with gravel
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to confound or confuse
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informal to annoy or disturb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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gravelishadjective
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ungraveledadjective
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ungravelledadjective
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well-graveledadjective
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well-gravelledadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gravelsimple
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gravelssimple
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have graveledperfect
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have gravelledperfect
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has graveledperfect
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has gravelledperfect
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am gravelingprogressive
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am gravellingprogressive
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are gravelingprogressive
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are gravellingprogressive
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is gravelingprogressive
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is gravellingprogressive
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have been gravelingperfect progressive
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have been gravellingperfect progressive
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has been gravelingperfect progressive
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has been gravellingperfect progressive
Past
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graveledsimple
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gravelledsimple
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had graveledperfect
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had gravelledperfect
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was gravelingprogressive
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was gravellingprogressive
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were gravelingprogressive
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were gravellingprogressive
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had been gravelingperfect progressive
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had been gravellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gravel
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French gravele, diminutive of grave sandy shore, perhaps < Celtic; cf. grave 4, growan
Explanation
Gravel is very small, irregular pieces of rock and stone. Your gravel driveway might crunch under your boots as you walk to the mailbox. Roads, paths, walkways, and yards are all sometimes paved with gravel, which is a relatively inexpensive material to use for marking areas and preventing the growth of weeds and other plants. Gravel is more rough and rocky than sand, and smaller than stones. The word gravel comes from the French word gravele, "gravel or sand," which in turn comes from grave, "seashore or sand." The ultimate Proto-Indo-European root may be ghreu, "to rub or grind."
Vocabulary lists containing gravel
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Can You Dig It? Words for Dirt and Soil
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Reynolds also described unsanitary conditions due to the slaughter area being outdoors with dirt and gravel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
People still marvel at Miyazaki’s handcrafted backgrounds and his painstaking dedication to balancing its feather-light score with the melodies of flowing water or the gentle crunch of a child’s footfalls on grass and gravel.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
“I love working with animals,” she said, plodding down a gravel road toward a clover-carpeted pasture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
A pitch in Cambodia where the turf was just the part of the ground with the least gravel.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Looks creepy,” Fina murmurs, staring down the narrow, gravel road with piles of dead leaves strewn across it.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
"Especially species that rely on more natural gravels and variation within the channel - that's the benefit of the meander."
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
"Whilst not normally listed as a conflict mineral, the extraction of sands and gravels in some countries clearly has characteristics of being such."
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2024
"This study is the first-ever report of thiamine compounds in salmon spawning rivers and the associated gravels where salmon spawn," Suffridge said.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024
“It can spread from very small fragments if you replace water in your aquarium, cleaning gravels and using buckets to dip water out and in.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2021
In the higher torrents also, gravels are rare because transport is so effective that no considerable accumulations can form.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various
The off-leash area would occupy most all of the meadow, which would undoubtedly be fenced and graveled.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
He is the graveled voice of this generation’s cowboys and poets.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2022
Seventeen years later, the park includes graveled walking trails equipped with interpretive signs and kiosk exhibits telling the story of those who built the mile-long tunnel with hand tools and explosives between 1870 and 1872.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 13, 2020
Winky the cat follows Ada down a graveled path, beyond the barn, past the pony carts, past old apple, pear and peach trees and watches Ada gather fuel for the fire.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2017
I follow her across an empty graveled lot.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
He said the road was gravelled and changes were made to street signs and lampposts to transport them back to the 1920s.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2022
El Mayor has the biggest diaspora, and conditions remain basic: there is a hodgepodge of improvised houses and old American trailers divided by sandy gravelled roads, barbed-wire fences, and drooping salty pines.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2019
We walk down the wide, gravelled drive past majestic chestnut trees to see a typical bedroom in the new unit - the chateau's former laundry house.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2016
They are revealing what appears to be a broad gravelled ceremonial road leading towards the river.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 28, 2010
The tall gray motor-buses were the only life of the square except for the pigeons and the man with a hose who sprinkled the gravelled square and watered the streets.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
They spent tens of thousands of dollars clearing brush around the property, graveling their driveway and even installing a concrete roof.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
What of the old, graveling question of Polish boundaries?
From Time Magazine Archive
But after 30 years of marriage, in 1953, she divorced him, charging that he left her "abandoned and alone" while working and graveling "to remote places in the world."
From Time Magazine Archive
It was late afternoon before Jon finished graveling the paths.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
"From libel, come libeled, libeler, libeling, libelous; from grovel, groveled, groveler, groveling; from gravel, graveled and graveling."
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
The object of the mound is to enable the proprietor to see easily at any time how the tuber is getting on, by just "gravelling" it with his hand.
From Jamaican Song and Story Annancy stories, digging sings, ring tunes, and dancing tunes by Jekyll, Walter
As for gravelling, and walling, and digging, though I am not much delighted with them, yet something, indeed much, must be allowed to every man's taste.
From Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 The Works of Samuel Johnson, Ll.D., in Nine Volumes by Johnson, Samuel
I quote this story as a text on which I wish to speak as to the advantage of gravelling heavy clay soils.
From Essays in Natural History and Agriculture by Garnett, Thomas
Previous to this gravelling, the land was a stiff, obdurate clay nearly to the surface.
From Essays in Natural History and Agriculture by Garnett, Thomas
If the same establishment is used by a number of flock-masters, gravelling will always be necessary.
From Sheep, Swine, and Poultry Embracing the History and Varieties of Each; The Best Modes of Breeding; Their Feeding and Management; Together with etc. by Jennings, Robert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
