pave
verb (used with object)
to cover or lay (a road, walk, etc.) with concrete, stones, bricks, tiles, wood, or the like, so as to make a firm, level surface.
pave
1 American
[payv]
/ peɪv /
verb (used with object)
-
paves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
paved,
past participle, past
-
paving
present participle
noun
idioms
pavé
2
American
[puh-vay, pav-ay, pa -vay]
/ pəˈveɪ, ˈpæv eɪ, paˈveɪ /
noun
-
pavés
plural
-
a pavement.
-
Jewelry. a setting of stones placed close together so as to show no metal between them.
adverb
adjective
pave
1
British
/ peɪv /
verb
-
to cover (a road, path, etc) with a firm surface suitable for travel, as with paving stones or concrete
-
to serve as the material for a pavement or other hard layer
bricks paved the causeway
-
(often foll by with) to cover with a hard layer (of)
shelves paved with marble
-
to prepare or make easier (esp in the phrase pave the way )
to pave the way for future development
pavé
2
British
/ ˈpæveɪ /
noun
-
a paved surface, esp an uneven one
-
a style of setting gems so closely that no metal shows
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pavesimple
-
pavessimple
-
have pavedperfect
-
has pavedperfect
-
am pavingprogressive
-
are pavingprogressive
-
is pavingprogressive
-
have been pavingperfect progressive
-
has been pavingperfect progressive
Past
-
pavedsimple
-
had pavedperfect
-
was pavingprogressive
-
were pavingprogressive
-
had been pavingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pave1
1275–1325; Middle English paven < Middle French paver < Vulgar Latin *pavare, for Latin pavīre to beat, ram, tread down
Origin of pavé2
1755–65; < French, past participle of paver. See pave
Explanation
To pave is to coat or cover with a very hard material, like concrete, asphalt, or stone. It's easier to shovel snow from your driveway after you pave it. When road crews pour hot asphalt on the street, they pave it, and when the city creates new sidewalks in your town, they may pave them with bricks or concrete. The colloquial expression "to pave the way for" means to set up a situation that allows something to happen more easily — for example, if your parents read you books from the time you were very small, they helped pave the way for you to love reading.
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:
The panel hope that an official definition will pave the way for better diagnosis and treatment.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
The advance could help pave the way for realistic computer simulations of more complicated quantum materials, including high-temperature superconductors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Allowing the contributions to the group trust could pave the way for future big-time stock donations by companies and individuals, according to IRS regulations released earlier this week.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
That could pave the way for lower tariffs on some nonsensitive goods, while China may offer to buy more U.S. farm products, energy products and Boeing aircraft, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Gold is probably the worst material one could use to pave a street.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
In person, it's dazzling, with a huge, oval-cut diamond set on a 18-karat white and rose gold diamond pavé band.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
It’s not that the watch is hideous; it’s more that the 150 hand-placed Czech crystal pavé setting and link bracelet ooze of ostentatious glitz.
From The Verge ● Jul. 16, 2022
Both the antique and the design it inspired have been reborn as a faceted snow quartz teardrop pendant bordered in pavé diamonds that hangs from a 30-inch yellow-gold chain.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2022
A 15-Hour Potato may be better known by its French moniker, the pavé.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2021
The road was pavé in the centre—villainous pavé.
From Adventures of a Despatch Rider by William Henry Lowe Watson
He believes the artist is referencing the student uprising in Paris in 1968, which had the slogan "sous les pavés, la plage!"
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2021
Things in “L’Écume” that seem exceptional to us, or to a bunch of idealistic students rallying, in 1968, behind the Vianesque slogan “Sous les pavés, la plage!”
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2014
The old pavés are beginning to give way, however, and we actually got a bit of terre within six posts of Paris.
From Recollections of Europe by James Fenimore Cooper
I began to think, regretfully of certain rugged continental pavés execrated in days gone by; they, at least, had a firm bottom, more or less remote.
From Border and Bastille by George A. (George Alfred) Lawrence
Item, 4 knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with 2 pavés.
From Notes and Queries, Number 25, April 20, 1850 by Various
Namibia has granted environmental clearance for an offshore phosphate mining project that paves the way for the world's first commercial seabed-dredging operation for the mineral, despite opposition from green groups and the fishing industry.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Evading plot holes, “It Ends” paves over the obvious biological needs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Then there’s the slow, somber poignancy of Hawk’s final aria, in which he recognizes the impossibility of the relationship, and paves the way to betrayal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
"By enabling robust nonreciprocal quantum synchronization, our research paves the way for realizing more reliable quantum processors and protected quantum resources," comments Lai.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
And well I know that they have seen the graves Of shipwreck'd sailors; for Disaster paves The fearful fields where reapers cannot reap.
From Love Letters of a Violinist and Other Poems by Eric Mackay
The legislation paved the way for the creation of California’s nation-leading carbon market, cap-and-invest, which launched in 2013.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Most are paved, likely to ease access for military vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
US states announced a settlement with Paramount and Ellison last month which paved the way for the merger to go ahead.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The original’s success paved the way for a surge in shows centering Black life in America, including “Living Single,” “Moesha” and “Martin.”
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
The court was partly paved with stone, but was roofless, and on a grassplot a fountain played under young trees in the sunlight.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The encounter would end up paving the way to a pivotal computing deal between the two men’s companies a decade later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"These investigations exemplify how Artemis and Moon Base are expanding the frontier of lunar exploration, advancing innovative technologies, deepening our understanding of the Moon's environment, and paving the way for future astronaut missions."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
General Rob Bonta and Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison have reached an agreement to end the state’s antitrust fight, paving the way for Ellison to complete his $111-billion purchase of Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Fed officials had been hoping that inflation pressures would subside over time, potentially even paving the way for more rate cuts.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026
On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered—the blood of the gods.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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