carve
[kahrv]
- to cut (a solid material) so as to form something: to carve a piece of pine.
- to form from a solid material by cutting: to carve a statue out of stone.
- to cut into slices or pieces, as a roast of meat.
- to decorate with designs or figures cut on the surface: The top of the box was beautifully carved with figures of lions and unicorns.
- to cut (a design, figures, etc.) on a surface: Figures of lions and unicorns were carved on the top of the box.
- to make or create for oneself (often followed by out): He carved out a career in business.
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- to carve figures, designs, etc.
- to cut meat.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for carved
Contemporary Examples
They carved a refuge out of the wilderness and then, in 200 years, built it into the most powerful nation on earth.
Many thousands of years ago, glacial floods swept through the area and carved out the sloping sides of the current grounds.
He rests lavishly, depicted in a marble sarcophagus that stares up for eternity at the carved depictions of his life story.
I have been around a large variety of people: men, women, children, funny, dramatic—he carved his own avenue in the world.
How Mork Melted the Fonz: Henry Winkler Recalls Robin Williams’s Storming ‘Happy Days’ DebutTim Teeman
August 12, 2014
But now the great prairies had all been overgrazed or carved into farms; there was little suitable rangeland left to occupy.
Historical Examples
In the garden of Anaxagoras, you will find a statue of Pallas, carved from an olive-tree.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
On the wall opposite the house the name of "Gladstone" is carved.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
The edges and corners of the box were carved with most wonderful skill.
The Paradise of ChildrenNathaniel Hawthorne
The moon shone on them; they looked as if they were carved with marble.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
We carved off a supply from both, and saved the skins, and hove the rest overboard.
Tom Sawyer AbroadMark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
carve
- (tr) to cut or chip in order to form somethingto carve wood
- to decorate or form (something) by cutting or chippingto carve statues
- to slice (meat) into piecesto carve a turkey
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Word Origin
Old English ceorfan; related to Old Frisian kerva, Middle High German kerben to notch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for carved
carve
v.
Old English ceorfan (class III strong verb; past tense cearf, past participle corfen) "to cut, cut down, slay; to carve, cut out, engrave," from West Germanic *kerfan (cf. Old Frisian kerva, Middle Dutch and Dutch kerven, German kerben "to cut, notch"), from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch," making carve the English cognate of Greek graphein "to write," originally "to scratch" on clay tablets with a stylus.
Once extensively used, most senses now usurped by cut (v.). Meaning specialized to sculpture, meat, etc., by 16c. Related: Carved; carving. Original strong conjugation has been abandoned, but archaic carven lingers.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper