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Synonyms

carve out

British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to make or create (a career)

    he carved out his own future
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

"You have to carve out that time for yourself," she said of new mums.

From BBC

Others want to carve out regular no-screen days—OK, maybe more like time periods—or days or retreats.

From The Wall Street Journal

Down Mr. Carswell’s way, Mississippi is carving out a different path.

From The Wall Street Journal

In China, with a clean slate and a growing affluent class, Sam’s Club, following Costco’s formula, carved out a niche as a premium chain offering high-quality items hard to find elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal

Between the famously liberal City by the Bay and Sacramento, he quietly amassed influence and carved out an unusual lane: a wonky Democrat who accelerates housing construction through legislation that pushes for denser development.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.