carve
Americanverb (used with object)
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carves,
present (3rd person singular)
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carved,
past participle, past
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carving
present participle
-
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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carves,
present (3rd person singular)
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carved,
past participle, past
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carving
present participle
-
to carve figures, designs, etc.
-
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:
The latest example of this creative approach is “Buddy,” in theaters Friday, which takes the aesthetics of a ’90s kids show like “Barney” or “Blue’s Clues” to carve out a monstrous dupe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Iceland's government intends to carve out a "special arrangement" to protect fishing and agriculture, and the finance minister says they are confident of getting "some exemptions".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The CPI and PPI might not carve a Fed rate hike in stone, but they could be the biggest building blocks.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
The United States alarmed its tropical island territories earlier this year, detailing plans to carve up parts of the Pacific Ocean for mining exploration.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
What kind of a man, Violet wondered, would carve an image of an eye into his front door?
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
A real plan carves out a protected reserve for that upfront, so the late-life risk is handled and the earlier spending is guilt-free.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
The light carves the pattern into material on the wafer called photoresist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
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
But given that virtually every hospital deals with unnamed patients, California carves out an exception for unidentified people who can’t make their own healthcare decisions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2025
Instead, Marco carves a series of symbols into the frost on the window of his flat that faces out to the street, using the columns of the museum beyond as a guide.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Within arm’s reach is a carved bust of what could be a cherub—smatterings of beauty and delight among the hideousness.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
The glacially carved landscape around this town on the South Island inspires myriad adventures, both tame and hair-raising.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Dramatic innovation in tunnel boring equipment, significantly increasing the rate at which tunnels can be carved out, does not come along very often.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
No one could’ve foreseen the unobtrusively great career that Muncy has carved out for himself, specifically over the past nine seasons in Los Angeles since getting called up in 2018.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
In front of it was a spinning wheel, big and shiny, the wood freshly carved and polished.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
That boost has helped shield Korea from external shocks but is also carving out a “K-shaped” pattern of growth, in which technology industries are booming while nontech sectors are stalling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Scientists have uncovered evidence that an enormous ancient cliff system may have helped expose the deepest rocks of the Grand Canyon nearly a billion years before the Colorado River began carving the landscape seen today.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
While mining has temporarily stopped in Amin's village, not far from his home, in Gulak-Dara valley, dozens of diggers were carving into the mountainside.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
And it was this upbringing that led to him carving a path as voice actor and physical performer.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
At a carving station, a burly man in a white apron sliced roast beef from an enormous rare haunch.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
