carve
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cut (a solid material) so as to form something.
to carve a piece of pine.
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to form from a solid material by cutting.
to carve a statue out of stone.
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to cut into slices or pieces, as a roast of meat.
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to decorate with designs or figures cut on the surface.
The top of the box was beautifully carved with figures of lions and unicorns.
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to cut (a design, figures, etc.) on a surface.
Figures of lions and unicorns were carved on the top of the box.
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to make or create for oneself (often followed byout ).
He carved out a career in business.
verb (used without object)
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to carve figures, designs, etc.
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to cut meat.
verb
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(tr) to cut or chip in order to form something
to carve wood
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to decorate or form (something) by cutting or chipping
to carve statues
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to slice (meat) into pieces
to carve a turkey
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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carvernoun
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recarveverb
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undercarveverb (used with object)
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semicarvedadjective
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uncarvedadjective
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well-carvedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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carvesimple
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carvessimple
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have carvedperfect
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has carvedperfect
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am carvingprogressive
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are carvingprogressive
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is carvingprogressive
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have been carvingperfect progressive
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has been carvingperfect progressive
Past
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carvedsimple
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had carvedperfect
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was carvingprogressive
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were carvingprogressive
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had been carvingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of carve
before 1000; Middle English kerven, Old English ceorfan to cut; cognate with Middle Low German kerven, German kerben, Greek gráphein to mark, write; see graph
Explanation
When you cut a design into a piece of wood or marble, you carve it. Headstone engravers carve people's names and the dates of their births and deaths into gravestones. You might carve your initials into the tree in your backyard, or carve a walking stick out of a large branch. Some artists work by carving shapes from clay or granite, and a chef learns to carve, or precisely cut up, large cuts of meat and poultry. The Old English root word is ceorfan, "to cut, slay, carve, or engrave."
Vocabulary lists containing carve
On a Pedestal: Marble-ous Words for Sculpture
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Secret Water"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Indian Summer Sun" and "Almost Evenly Divided"
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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:
I really wanted to carve out time to be there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
But when the request came in—Bieber wants to carve pumpkins with you at his playhouse—I was like, let’s see what that turns into.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Although Scotland have struggled to carve out meaningful opportunities in their two group matches, they have been largely solid in defence.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
It takes great courage to look into the past with clear eyes, especially when what you’ll see is bound to remain hazy, forcing you to squint and carve out whatever truth you can from it.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
I carve one red M&M out of my last piece of cookie and take a deep breath.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
The fund is having issues with the $400 level as it carves out the right side of a bearish head and shoulders pattern.
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026
The agreement also carves Disney a strong presence on YouTube TV as well as the main YouTube app, the companies said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
Rather than walk in the footsteps of its predecessors, Lux carves its own, unique path - harnessing Rosalía's classical training at the prestigious Catalonia College of Music.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
Condé Nast, which owns the New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Bon Appétit, is embracing flashy events, paywalls and other revenue sources as it carves out a new model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
They will remember the way the wind pulls them, tugs them, scolds, and carves them.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
It has been 68 years since a French striker named Just Fontaine carved his name into World Cup history by scoring an astonishing 13 goals at the 1958 tournament.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
But if that were true, he wouldn’t have carved out the Fed!
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
“I have found and carved out this peace for myself and for my family, and it brings me so much joy and contentment and clarity and grounding,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
"So now we're building a helipad, beautiful helipad, and it's got the seal of the White House on it -- in granite, carved granite, it's... really a beautiful thing," Trump told reporters.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
He wanted to laugh because this, like all barber's basins, had been made with a half-moon carved out to fit comfortably against the curve of a man's neck.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
The idea of carving out talks on the future administration of Hormuz was pressed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian paramilitary group that protects the regime and controls the strait, mediators said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
For Flynn, it’s like carving away at what is already there to create something fun and cohesive, like a sculpture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Dow Agrosciences case showed the court carving a limitation in the rollback for FIFRA, the same statute at play in Monsanto.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Three interconnected catwalks stretch into the audience, carving the space into small compartments.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
He was carving something into one of the boulders with a small rock.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
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.
