gravel
Americannoun
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small stones and pebbles, or a mixture of these with sand.
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Pathology.
-
multiple small calculi formed in the kidneys.
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the disease characterized by such concretions.
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verb (used with object)
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gravels,
present (3rd person singular)
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graveled,
past participle, past
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gravelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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graveling,
present participle
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gravelling
present participle (especially British)
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to cover with gravel.
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to bring to a standstill from perplexity; puzzle.
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Informal. to be a cause of irritation to.
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Obsolete. to run (a ship) aground, as on a beach.
adjective
noun
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an unconsolidated mixture of rock fragments that is coarser than sand
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geology a mixture of rock fragments with diameters in the range 4–76 mm
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pathol small rough calculi in the kidneys or bladder
verb
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to cover with gravel
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to confound or confuse
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informal to annoy or disturb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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gravelishadjective
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ungraveledadjective
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ungravelledadjective
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well-graveledadjective
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well-gravelledadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gravelsimple
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gravelssimple
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have graveledperfect
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have gravelledperfect
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has graveledperfect
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has gravelledperfect
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am gravelingprogressive
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am gravellingprogressive
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are gravelingprogressive
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are gravellingprogressive
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is gravelingprogressive
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is gravellingprogressive
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have been gravelingperfect progressive
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have been gravellingperfect progressive
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has been gravelingperfect progressive
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has been gravellingperfect progressive
Past
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graveledsimple
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gravelledsimple
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had graveledperfect
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had gravelledperfect
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was gravelingprogressive
-
was gravellingprogressive
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were gravelingprogressive
-
were gravellingprogressive
-
had been gravelingperfect progressive
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had been gravellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gravel
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French gravele, diminutive of grave sandy shore, perhaps < Celtic; cf. grave 4, growan
Explanation
Gravel is very small, irregular pieces of rock and stone. Your gravel driveway might crunch under your boots as you walk to the mailbox. Roads, paths, walkways, and yards are all sometimes paved with gravel, which is a relatively inexpensive material to use for marking areas and preventing the growth of weeds and other plants. Gravel is more rough and rocky than sand, and smaller than stones. The word gravel comes from the French word gravele, "gravel or sand," which in turn comes from grave, "seashore or sand." The ultimate Proto-Indo-European root may be ghreu, "to rub or grind."
Vocabulary lists containing gravel
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Can You Dig It? Words for Dirt and Soil
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Earth Science - Middle School
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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:
Multiple noise mitigation efforts were undertaken — sound walls, scream shields and even pea gravel in the coaster’s tracks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
It is not a place crowded with abandoned good intentions, freezer-burned stock bones or half-used bags of vegetables slowly turning into gravel.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Trucks hauled parts for drilling rigs along gravel roads crossed by caribou.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
After pestering the local council into submission, two sets of goals were hammered into a nearby patch of gravel where the McGinn brothers, extended family and friends could run wild.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
The little gravel lot was too small to protect them.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
"Whilst not normally listed as a conflict mineral, the extraction of sands and gravels in some countries clearly has characteristics of being such."
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2024
"This study is the first-ever report of thiamine compounds in salmon spawning rivers and the associated gravels where salmon spawn," Suffridge said.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024
“It can spread from very small fragments if you replace water in your aquarium, cleaning gravels and using buckets to dip water out and in.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2021
They need rivers with clean, well-oxygenated water and stable gravels.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2018
By simple washing, i.e. dressing auriferous sands, gravels, &c.;
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various
“What’s the punishment?” he said in a graveled baritone.
From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
He is the graveled voice of this generation’s cowboys and poets.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2022
Passersby and fellow diners do not seem to notice anything special about this bald, plainly dressed man with the graveled voice, though at least some likely know about his books.
From Seattle Times ● May 27, 2021
Seventeen years later, the park includes graveled walking trails equipped with interpretive signs and kiosk exhibits telling the story of those who built the mile-long tunnel with hand tools and explosives between 1870 and 1872.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 13, 2020
Just to the left of the low building was a graveled driveway that appeared to lead outside the grounds.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
He said the road was gravelled and changes were made to street signs and lampposts to transport them back to the 1920s.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2022
I’m imagining her now, pushing my red and white striped stroller through a gravelled Parisian park, cold winds rushing the tears along.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 9, 2019
We walk down the wide, gravelled drive past majestic chestnut trees to see a typical bedroom in the new unit - the chateau's former laundry house.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2016
They are revealing what appears to be a broad gravelled ceremonial road leading towards the river.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 28, 2010
At the front, and on both sides, there was the lawn, sloping downwards to a gravelled drive, and then into the lane, and without any tree or flower-bed to relieve the bald greenness.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
They spent tens of thousands of dollars clearing brush around the property, graveling their driveway and even installing a concrete roof.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
But after 30 years of marriage, in 1953, she divorced him, charging that he left her "abandoned and alone" while working and graveling "to remote places in the world."
From Time Magazine Archive
What of the old, graveling question of Polish boundaries?
From Time Magazine Archive
It was late afternoon before Jon finished graveling the paths.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
The State Highway Commission has set aside funds for graveling this section preparatory to surfacing.
From Third Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission Covering the Period December 1st, 1916 to November 30th, 1918 by Benson, S.
What pleasure have we taken in planting and pulling up, digging and scattering, watering and draining, turfing and gravelling!
From Anna St. Ives by Holcroft, Thomas
Previous to this gravelling, the land was a stiff, obdurate clay nearly to the surface.
From Essays in Natural History and Agriculture by Garnett, Thomas
Mr. William Crone, contractor for gravelling the streets of the town, was unfortunately drowned on Saturday last.
From Toronto of Old by Scadding, Henry
I quote this story as a text on which I wish to speak as to the advantage of gravelling heavy clay soils.
From Essays in Natural History and Agriculture by Garnett, Thomas
As he was one day gravelling a little by-walk, wrapped in thought, the King turning a clump of bushes, suddenly brushed Israel's person.
From Israel Potter by Melville, Herman
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.
