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
-
are gravelingprogressive
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are gravellingprogressive
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is gravelingprogressive
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is gravellingprogressive
-
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
-
graveledsimple
-
gravelledsimple
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had graveledperfect
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had gravelledperfect
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was gravelingprogressive
-
was gravellingprogressive
-
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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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:
Cranes shifted the carriages as police and soldiers picked through the wreckage strewn down the gravel slope where at least three train carriages were tossed by the impact.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
This is where Sagehen Meadows Road, a well-maintained gravel route, turns south.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
He recently won three beautification awards for a Rancho Santa Fe home where he replaced foundation plants with boulders, gravel, cement pots and flameproof steel plant sculptures with internal lighting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Within its underground habitat, Erhaia dijiang lives among submerged gravel and broken rock in water less than one meter deep.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
The gravel crackled under my wheels as I braked in our driveway.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
"As such, sand and gravels underpin our modern economies, and also are key in many aspects of the UN Sustainable Development Goals," Best said.
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
“Because that tells us the flow pattern, and where there was energy at one particular time. You ask: Where did this water slow down? How are the gravels laid out?”
From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023
They need rivers with clean, well-oxygenated water and stable gravels.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2018
Porous soils are composed of materials that always allow of the escape of superabundant moisture; they are generally underlaid by beds of diluvial gravels, or by rocks of a porous character.
From American Pomology Apples by J. A. Warder
The off-leash area would occupy most all of the meadow, which would undoubtedly be fenced and graveled.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
His tone is graveled but youthfully sweet; only his shouts of “saúde!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2022
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
Winky the cat follows Ada down a graveled path, beyond the barn, past the pony carts, past old apple, pear and peach trees and watches Ada gather fuel for the fire.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2017
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
El Mayor has the biggest diaspora, and conditions remain basic: there is a hodgepodge of improvised houses and old American trailers divided by sandy gravelled roads, barbed-wire fences, and drooping salty pines.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2019
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
The tall gray motor-buses were the only life of the square except for the pigeons and the man with a hose who sprinkled the gravelled square and watered the streets.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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
Article 24, proposing the graveling of a sidewalk, was referred to the selectmen.
From Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Referendum by James William Sullivan
In Kew Gardens it was, where I worked gravelling the walks.
From Israel Potter by Herman Melville
If money can be saved by any plan, perhaps it is as well to notice it; but after having weighed the advantages and disadvantages of gravelling, I am of opinion, that bricks are preferable.
From The Infant System For Developing the Intellectual and Moral Powers of all Children, from One to Seven years of Age by Samuel Wilderspin
If the same establishment is used by a number of flock-masters, gravelling will always be necessary.
From Sheep, Swine, and Poultry Embracing the History and Varieties of Each; The Best Modes of Breeding; Their Feeding and Management; Together with etc. by Robert Jennings
As for gravelling, and walling, and digging, though I am not much delighted with them, yet something, indeed much, must be allowed to every man's taste.
From Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 The Works of Samuel Johnson, Ll.D., in Nine Volumes by Samuel Johnson
Anyone who liked to cart away a few loads for the purpose of gravelling his garden-path was at liberty to do so.
From The Squire's Daughter by Silas K(itto) Hocking
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