lave
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to wash; bathe.
-
(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
Over the past two decades, South Florida in general, and Miami in particular, lave undergone a Latin-flavored business boom that is putting much of the glitter back into the Gold Coast.
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
To prepare the quadruped idols for the worshiping throng, handlers laved them in exotic ceremonies.
From Time Magazine Archive
Pyro glosses over its terror with a sort of Hitchcock-and-bull story photographed in Spain in flamenco hues and laved in bucketfuls of blue butane gas.
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 drained away the filthy water he sat in and laved fresh warm water over him from the pan and wrapped him shivering in a towel and wrapped him again in a blanket.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Not affectionate, remember! laving, and things will arrange themselves well for us all.
From An Unknown Lover by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
Grandson!" grunted Tom, heaving up, "I've got no grandson, or he wouldn't be laving me to smoke a dry pipe.
From The Manxman A Novel - 1895 by Sir Hall Caine
As though laving the cross-street’s dirty feet, the East River shimmered dimly in the lights from shore and from passing steam craft.
From Lonesome Town by Ethel Dorrance
I arose, dressed myself quickly, and after thoroughly laving my face and hands in ice-cold water, felt considerably refreshed.
From Etidorhpa or the End of Earth. The Strange History of a Mysterious Being and The Account of a Remarkable Journey by John Uri Lloyd
"Sit down, Denis, sit down—don't be laving your company such a night as this."
From The Macdermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope
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.
