carve
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.
to carve figures, designs, etc.
to cut meat.
Origin of carve
1Other words from carve
- carver, noun
- re·carve, verb, re·carved, re·carv·ing.
- sem·i·carved, adjective
- un·carved, adjective
- un·der·carve, verb (used with object), un·der·carved, un·der·carv·ing.
- well-carved, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use carve in a sentence
She slow-motion jogs through the courtyard, paints his portrait, and carves his name into a tree.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Tay-Tay Scorned | Sujay Kumar | November 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe First Amendment carves out special protections for religious belief and expression.
Opposing Gay Marriage Doesn’t Make You a Crypto-Racist | Jonathan Rauch | April 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLike with other things in his life, Jay carves his own path and creates his own approach.
Designer Stefano Pilati says goodbye; Givenchy carves out its future; Chanel stays put.
Paris Fall Fashion Week 2012: A Finale at Yves Saint Laurent | Robin Givhan | March 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTChauliac once declared that the surgeon ignorant of anatomy carves the human body as a blind man would carve wood.
Education: How Old The New | James J. Walsh
You will see on our table specimens of the coke produced in the Carves-Simon oven, yielding 75 to 77 per cent.
There is another man who was an officer in the navy; he carves little models of ships out of wood and bone.
Condemned as a Nihilist | George Alfred HentyThat is to say, the men upon whose tombs society now carves the word Savior were outcasts and criminals in their day.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 12 | Elbert HubbardBetween this outer shaft and inner door is a square pilaster, of which the architect carves one side, and lets the other alone.
Val d'Arno | John Ruskin
British Dictionary definitions for carve
/ (kɑːv) /
(tr) to cut or chip in order to form something: to carve wood
to decorate or form (something) by cutting or chipping: to carve statues
to slice (meat) into pieces: to carve a turkey
Origin of carve
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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