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
[payv]
/ peɪv /
verb (used with object)
-
paves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
paved,
past participle, past
-
paving
present participle
noun
idioms
pavé
2
American
[puh-vay, pav-ay, pa -vay]
/ 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:
Approval of this project, argues McCulloch, could pave the way for four more Jackdaw-sized gas developments in the waters west of Shetland – Tornado, Tornado East, Tobermory and Suilven.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
The panel hope that an official definition will pave the way for better diagnosis and treatment.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
The advance could help pave the way for realistic computer simulations of more complicated quantum materials, including high-temperature superconductors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Biohub said the investment may pave the way for a greater understanding of disease and open up new paths for cures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
“But remember that good intentions pave many roads. Not all of them lead to hell.”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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
You could get a pavé setting or not.
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
A 15-Hour Potato may be better known by its French moniker, the pavé.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2021
The road was pavé in the centre—villainous pavé.
From Adventures of a Despatch Rider by William Henry Lowe Watson
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
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
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
“It really paves the way for the multiple other antibody drug conjugates that we have in our portfolio.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Namibia has granted environmental clearance for an offshore phosphate mining project that paves the way for the world's first commercial seabed-dredging operation for the mineral, despite opposition from green groups and the fishing industry.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Evading plot holes, “It Ends” paves over the obvious biological needs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
She hoped by being one of the first to try the new treatment, it "paves the way for others".
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Every digression allowed, only paves the way for others, with less and less resistance, and more and more ruinous results.
From Plain Talks on Avoided Subjects by Henry Newell Guernsey
She was initially banned from politics for five years but an appeals court this year paved the way for her to run in the 2027 election to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
We’re all paying the nauseating price now, and anyone who paved the way is complicit.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2026
Most are paved, likely to ease access for military vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The ruling came after two other former City traders had their convictions overturned last year, which has paved the way for others to appeal.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
But since sidewalks don’t usually get paved in this part of the hood, initials carved into the concrete are something I don’t usually see.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
"These investigations exemplify how Artemis and Moon Base are expanding the frontier of lunar exploration, advancing innovative technologies, deepening our understanding of the Moon's environment, and paving the way for future astronaut missions."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Flagship companies, including carmaker Volkswagen, have announced massive job cuts in recent months, changing minds in Berlin and paving the way for the Franco-German initiative, according to officials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
General Rob Bonta and Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison have reached an agreement to end the state’s antitrust fight, paving the way for Ellison to complete his $111-billion purchase of Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Fed officials had been hoping that inflation pressures would subside over time, potentially even paving the way for more rate cuts.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026
They rode into a grand, circular courtyard, over paving stones set with a mosaic of gold and green in a pattern of swirls.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
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