engrave
Americanverb (used with object)
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engraves,
present (3rd person singular)
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engraved,
past participle, past
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engraving
present participle
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to chase (letters, designs, etc.) on a hard surface, as of metal, stone, or the end grain of wood.
She had the jeweler engrave her name on the back of the watch.
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to print from such a surface.
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to mark or ornament with incised letters, designs, etc..
He engraved the ring in a floral pattern.
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to impress deeply; infix.
That image is engraved on my mind.
verb
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to inscribe (a design, writing, etc) onto (a block, plate, or other surface used for printing) by carving, etching with acid, or other process
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to print (designs or characters) from a printing plate so made
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to fix deeply or permanently in the mind
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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engravernoun
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underengravernoun
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reengraveverb (used with object)
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superengraveverb (used with object)
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engravableadjective
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unengravedadjective
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well-engravedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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engravesimple
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engravessimple
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have engravedperfect
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has engravedperfect
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am engravingprogressive
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are engravingprogressive
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is engravingprogressive
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have been engravingperfect progressive
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has been engravingperfect progressive
Past
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engravedsimple
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had engravedperfect
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was engravingprogressive
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were engravingprogressive
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had been engravingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of engrave
Explanation
To engrave is to carve into something, especially stone. Sometimes people have messages engraved inside their wedding rings, their iPods, or any other rock-hard surface that can handle it. Words are engraved on tombstones to honor the people who died. Grave used to mean “to dig or carve” but no one uses it that way anymore because they would say engrave instead. Anytime a hard surface has a message or picture cut into, it was engraved. Sometimes engraving isn’t physical. A super fun birthday when your long lost grandmother rode in on a stallion could be engraved in your mind forever. Both kinds of engraving leave an impression.
Vocabulary lists containing engrave
Frindle
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The Marvels
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The Renaissance and Reformation, Lessons 1–2
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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:
It took three years of training before he was allowed to engrave small pieces for customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
Before, to engrave the circuits on the silicon plates used in electronic devices like mobile phones, it was necessary to use polluting chemical products.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2024
Might as well engrave the nameplate on the NFL offensive rookie of the year award now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2023
I also love the fact that they could have put it in a font, in something computer-generated, but they chose to engrave it in my handwriting.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 7, 2023
After forging the blade, she had spent another three months using Transformation to engrave the weapon, imbuing it with its magical properties.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Employing a nano-imprinting process that engraves the pattern like a stamp, the team achieved the rapid and inexpensive production of metalenses that are 20,000 times larger than conventional ones.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024
He said that many local business in the area, including his own, which engraves stone, had offered their time and resources to restore the structure.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
A machine engraves information on an ingot of 99.98 percent pure palladium at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022.
From Reuters ● May 15, 2022
And it is the distance between this country and the ideals it engraves upon marble edifices.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2021
Master Lucas, who engraves in copper, invited me as his guest.
From Memoirs of Journeys to Venice and the Low Countries by Rudolf Tombo
This does not mean organoids have memories like we tend to think of them -- such as recalling something from childhood -- but simply that their past is "engraved" on a cellular level, Arlotta emphasised.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Using geometric and statistical techniques that had not previously been applied to these artifacts, the team reconstructed the directions, angles, and paths of the engraved lines.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
The trophy is engraved with a personal tribute - "Inspired by the Fifa president Gianni Infantino".
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
A total of 53 names have been engraved onto the Stanley Cup to represent the 2026 champions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
By spring, he was sending Maggie gifts again, like the engraved portrait of himself created for his upcoming book.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
At the foot of the coffin was an engraving of a pair of wings that were embroidered on one of her stage jackets.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
"There is not only a process of repeating signs: there is real visuo-spatial planning, as if the authors already had an overall image of the figure in mind before engraving it."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
After seeing the stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence, Gina Linn Espinoza said her mind was racing with thoughts of the history that brought us to the present day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Erbium and neodymium are also important in making lasers for industrial engraving and cutting.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
He would buy the engraving of St. Clement’s Dane, take it out of its frame, and carry it home concealed under the jacket of his overalls.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
