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gravestone

American  
[greyv-stohn] / ˈgreɪvˌstoʊn /

noun

  1. a stone marking a grave, usually giving the name, date of death, etc., of the person buried there.

gravestone British  
/ ˈɡreɪvˌstəʊn /

noun

  1. a stone marking a grave and usually inscribed with the name and dates of the person buried

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of gravestone

A Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at grave 1, stone

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.

Considering his own mortality, while consumed by daily news of death and destruction on the network he founded, Turner mused about what one day might be inscribed on his gravestone.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

“People sell those markers, even those little vases you put on them, and melt them down for money,” says Rebecca Meyer, 48, a gravestone conservationist and president of Epoch Preservation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026

In the cemetery, Munzanza's mother Florence knelt by his gravestone and wept.

From Barron's • Oct. 13, 2025

“We’re now left with a gravestone that’s in multiple pieces,” she added.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2024

Cinder could see her gravestone from the window of the fourth-floor unit he and Miss Fran had lived in together, five doors down from where Cynthia lived with her mom.

From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds

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.