lave
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to wash; bathe.
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(of a river, sea, etc.) to flow along, against, or past; wash.
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Obsolete. to ladle; pour or dip with a ladle.
verb (used without object)
noun
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lave1
First recorded before 900; Middle English laven “to wash, bathe, moisten,” partly from Old French laver, from Latin lavāre “to wash, bathe”; partly from Old English lafian “to pour water on, wash,” gelafian “to wash, lave, refresh,” itself perhaps from Latin lavāre
Origin of lave2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English love, lave, loave, Old English lāf “remnant, remains”; cognate with Old High German leiba, Old Norse leif, Gothic laiba; akin to leave 1
Origin of lave3
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; special use of lave 1
Vocabulary lists containing lave
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:
In 2023 it brokered a deal between bitter rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which lave long stood on opposing sides in proxy wars in the Middle East.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
The eruption eased pressure that had been building under a lave dome perched on the crater.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2021
Khalid Thomas, Elias Valtonen and walk-on Kyle Feit all played sporadically, but their transfers lave Hurley with a thin roster, particularly if White and Martin don’t return.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 1, 2020
When Boris was questioned by police about the large cache of diamonds discovered in his possession, :the name of a close friend is said to lave come up: Brezhnev's daughter Galina.
From Time Magazine Archive
Despite the fact that I hated hem, Denna’s men taught me a lesson that I might never lave learned otherwise.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Back at the Aiden house, the Shabbat dinner guests have all laved their hands with a glass of water and returned to the sun deck for matzo-ball soup.
From Nature ● Jun. 22, 2011
Catherine the Great, Jonathan Swift, John Wesley and a score of other 18th century movers and shapers are laved in the warm glow of idiosyncrasy rather than the cold light of 100% accuracy.
From Time Magazine Archive
Catherine the Great, Jonathan Swift, John Wesley and a score of other 18th century movers and shapers are laved more in the warm glow of idiosyncrasy than in the cold light of 100% accuracy.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the freshmen have always laved the temples afterward until they shone pristine and classic as before.
From Time Magazine Archive
He scooted forward and reached again and laved up a handful of it and smelled and tasted it and then drank.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
There through the summer day Cool streams are laving: There, while the tempests sway, Scarce are boughs waving; There thy rest shalt thou take, Parted for ever, Never again to wake Never, O never!
From The Golden Treasury Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language and arranged with Notes by Various
"Sure they are just after laving this place, becase they are gone away these three big days."
From Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp Late a Lieut. in His Majesty's 87th Regiment by Shipp, John
The Russians followed the same system they afterward employed against the French, retiring and laving waste the country.
From Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 2 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)
Kneeling there, stripped to the waist, he began laving his chest and shoulders and dipping his face deep into the cold water.
From The Roof Tree by Conrey, Lee F.
"S'sh," he cautioned, laving a hand on her arm.
From Juggernaut by Campbell, Alice
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.
