gravel
Americannoun
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small stones and pebbles, or a mixture of these with sand.
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Pathology.
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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
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was gravellingprogressive
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were gravelingprogressive
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were gravellingprogressive
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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:
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
I played shortstop on the gravel schoolyard grounds with a first baseman’s trapper’s mitt bought from Montgomery Ward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 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 train swung around as it slid; then it began to roll, showering me with gravel and debris.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
"Especially species that rely on more natural gravels and variation within the channel - that's the benefit of the meander."
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
"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
They’re deprived of fine gravels, and their redds are at risk of being destroyed by high water.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
Glacial gravels, clays and loams cover a great deal of the whole area, and the Upper Chalk itself has been disturbed at Reed and Barley by the same agency.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various
The off-leash area would occupy most all of the meadow, which would undoubtedly be fenced and graveled.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
“The home was once a one-story block dairy barn, located near a loosely graveled road a half mile beyond other signs of civilization in Lakewood Addition, along Louisville Road,” said the 1971 article.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2022
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
Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, and then a car door slammed.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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
With a voice as gravelled as a churning cement mixer, he is still sprightly and genial at 80.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 16, 2017
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
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
What of the old, graveling question of Polish boundaries?
From Time Magazine Archive
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
It was late afternoon before Jon finished graveling the paths.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
They were resumed in 1879, and the dam as also the slide successfully completed, with the exception of graveling of the dam in the fall of 1881.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 384, May 12, 1883 by Various
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 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
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 Thomas Garnett
Previous to this gravelling, the land was a stiff, obdurate clay nearly to the surface.
From Essays in Natural History and Agriculture by Thomas Garnett
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
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