pave
verb (used with object)
to cover or lay (a road, walk, etc.) with concrete, stones, bricks, tiles, wood, or the like, so as to make a firm, level surface.
pave
1 American
[peyv]
/ peɪv /
verb (used with object)
-
paves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
paved,
past participle, past
-
paving
present participle
noun
idioms
pavé
2
American
[puh-vey, pav-ey, pa -vey]
/ pəˈveɪ, ˈpæv eɪ, paˈveɪ /
noun
-
pavés
plural
-
a pavement.
-
Jewelry. a setting of stones placed close together so as to show no metal between them.
adverb
adjective
pave
1
British
/ peɪv /
verb
-
to cover (a road, path, etc) with a firm surface suitable for travel, as with paving stones or concrete
-
to serve as the material for a pavement or other hard layer
bricks paved the causeway
-
(often foll by with) to cover with a hard layer (of)
shelves paved with marble
-
to prepare or make easier (esp in the phrase pave the way )
to pave the way for future development
pavé
2
British
/ ˈpæveɪ /
noun
-
a paved surface, esp an uneven one
-
a style of setting gems so closely that no metal shows
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pavesimple
-
pavessimple
-
have pavedperfect
-
has pavedperfect
-
am pavingprogressive
-
are pavingprogressive
-
is pavingprogressive
-
have been pavingperfect progressive
-
has been pavingperfect progressive
Past
-
pavedsimple
-
had pavedperfect
-
was pavingprogressive
-
were pavingprogressive
-
had been pavingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pave1
1275–1325; Middle English paven < Middle French paver < Vulgar Latin *pavare, for Latin pavīre to beat, ram, tread down
Origin of pavé2
1755–65; < French, past participle of paver. See pave
Explanation
To pave is to coat or cover with a very hard material, like concrete, asphalt, or stone. It's easier to shovel snow from your driveway after you pave it. When road crews pour hot asphalt on the street, they pave it, and when the city creates new sidewalks in your town, they may pave them with bricks or concrete. The colloquial expression "to pave the way for" means to set up a situation that allows something to happen more easily — for example, if your parents read you books from the time you were very small, they helped pave the way for you to love reading.
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:
That measurement helped pave the way for future research into matter-antimatter asymmetries in the neutrino sector.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Venezuelans are hopeful the dialogue will eventually pave the way for holding elections in the crisis-hit South American country.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Deep Fission’s project is one of 11 in an Energy Department pilot program designed to build and test small, advanced reactors to pave the way for commercial use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
His decision to step away from the west London club appears to pave the way for him to lead a consortium of investors seeking to purchase a reported 30% stake in the Anfield club.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Ana was trying to pave a very rocky road, Joaquin could tell.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
In person, it's dazzling, with a huge, oval-cut diamond set on a 18-karat white and rose gold diamond pavé band.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
Available in gold, as well as diamond pavé, letters on 14-karat-gold chains ranging from 16 to 20 inches in length.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
It’s not that the watch is hideous; it’s more that the 150 hand-placed Czech crystal pavé setting and link bracelet ooze of ostentatious glitz.
From The Verge ● Jul. 16, 2022
Both the antique and the design it inspired have been reborn as a faceted snow quartz teardrop pendant bordered in pavé diamonds that hangs from a 30-inch yellow-gold chain.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2022
But it is obvious that the paviour in a field hops the clod; that the clodhopper in a street paces the pavé.
From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson
He believes the artist is referencing the student uprising in Paris in 1968, which had the slogan "sous les pavés, la plage!"
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2021
Things in “L’Écume” that seem exceptional to us, or to a bunch of idealistic students rallying, in 1968, behind the Vianesque slogan “Sous les pavés, la plage!”
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2014
I began to think, regretfully of certain rugged continental pavés execrated in days gone by; they, at least, had a firm bottom, more or less remote.
From Border and Bastille by George A. (George Alfred) Lawrence
The old pavés are beginning to give way, however, and we actually got a bit of terre within six posts of Paris.
From Recollections of Europe by James Fenimore Cooper
Item, 4 knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with 2 pavés.
From Notes and Queries, Number 25, April 20, 1850 by Various
It is disengagement—not the disciplinary label—that paves the road to the child eventually ending up in the justice system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
While much of this field is still theoretical, Google says Willow incorporates key "breakthroughs" and "paves the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer".
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
"If we don't preserve nest sites, and someone paves over them, we could lose in an instant 5.5 million bees that are important pollinators."
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
The peptides decision paves the way for new revenue streams, which can help the company redirect its GLP-1 capacity toward other peptides and stem some of its current sunk costs.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
The New Member for May, edited by William Dowdell, contains but one credential, yet doubtless paves the way for a resumption of the enterprise so ably conducted by Miss Hoffman last year.
From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
This event wiped out much of the life on the planet and paved the way for the diversification of new groups of animals.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The combination of physical problems and internal disagreements ultimately paved the way for his departure even though he made a strong offensive impact.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The ruling paved the way for college athletes to receive NIL compensation, and five years later, in 2026, the NIL economy is estimated to be worth $2.7 billion, per Opendorse.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Fourteen new positions have been established since the October ceasefire, including two currently under construction, while a further seven set up before the ceasefire have been paved or extended.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
If the doña insists on going, she can take that dirt road up ahead and then cross over onto the road that is paved all the way to the coffee barns.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
The president has weighed in on paving stones, marble, flagpoles and other aesthetic details around the White House as he reshapes the presidential grounds.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Nowadays, the Buffalo product stands on the other side of the street, paving the way for the next generation as one of the league’s older stars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
North Sea business up for sale, paving the way to end oil production in its home country after 60 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In 2019, the Supreme Court awarded the disputed site for construction of the temple, paving the way for a huge fundraising drive across the country to finance the project.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
This was aimed at maintaining Reggie’s reputation and paving his path to return on a mission.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
