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 Renaissance and Reformation, Lessons 1–2
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The Marvels
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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:
Everyone who the company hires to engrave starts with zero experience, and part of the challenge is the process itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
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
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
Wear Jennie Yoon’s locket as a blank oval — she also sells a heart-shaped locket — or engrave it with a signature letter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
This was something Lexie had heard her mother say enough times—into the telephone to Mrs. McCullough, anytime the case came up—to engrave it in her mind as fact.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Nolan’s “Odyssey” engraves marvelous images onto the ancient oral poem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
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
The firm prints, engraves, electroplates, sews, binds, publishes, and sells wholesale and retail.
From North America — Volume 1 by Anthony Trollope
In July, when the Dodgers visited the White House, Walter presented Trump with an official World Series championship ring with his name engraved on it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The US president has received a luxury jumbo jet, an engraved gold bar, a diamond-and-jewel encrusted gold ring, and more.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The book comes with engraved wooden medallions sourced from poplar trees at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate, that are illustrated by contemporary artists with thematic imagery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
The bronze crypt plate mounted at the mausoleum had the star’s name engraved on it before she died, alongside her husband’s name and a depiction of her Tennessee home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
Calvin says, “You sent engraved invitations as I recall.”
From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor
The writing is piercing and suspenseful, and Ms. Cline deserves praise for engraving a style recognizably her own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 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
Twiggs testified that Robinson had asked weeks earlier about using an engraving tool in advance of an upcoming hunting and camping trip with his family.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
The Hockey Hall of Fame told the Associated Press it is not directly involved with the engraving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
“A badger,” murmured Voldemort, examining the engraving upon the cup.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
