a pavement.
Jewelry. a setting of stones placed close together so as to show no metal between them.
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
a paved surface, esp an uneven one
a style of setting gems so closely that no metal shows
1275–1325; Middle English paven < Middle French paver < Vulgar Latin *pavare, for Latin pavīre to beat, ram, tread down
1755–65; < French, past participle of paver. See pave
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An agentic Siri will pave the way for a long-term “AI-driven replacement cycle,” while new products such as a foldable iPhone will strengthen iPhone demand through 2028, Woodring noted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
In California, the rollback could pave the way for more farming, mining, logging and drilling in areas that were once forbidden due to the potential for wildlife habitat destruction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
At the summit, Sir Keir signed a defence agreement with Erdogan which will pave the way for closer intelligence sharing between the countries.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
The advance could help pave the way for phonon lasers, a technology with potential uses in communications, medical diagnostics, and advanced sensing.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026
Watch yourself, be the first to ask pardon if you both err, and guard against the little piques, misunderstandings, and hasty words that often pave the way for bitter sorrow and regret.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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
Released on April 10, the three-piece collection includes a standout, massive 7.90-carat Lucky Move Smiley necklace with a pavé setting made up of hundreds of yellow and white diamonds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 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
So far, we've nothing to complain of, and have been on velvet, compared to some of the pavé atrocities one remembers in Belgium and northern France.”
From The Car of Destiny by Both, Armand
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 Lawrence, George A. (George Alfred)
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 Cooper, James Fenimore
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
She hoped by being one of the first to try the new treatment, it "paves the way for others".
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
It follows veteran Labour politician and rival Andy Burnham's victory in a by-election on Friday, which paves the way for the 56-year-old to challenge the beleaguered Starmer to be party leader and prime minister.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
Investors will also continue to digest news of Andy Burnham’s recent victory in a U.K. special election which paves the way for him to mount a challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
"By enabling robust nonreciprocal quantum synchronization, our research paves the way for realizing more reliable quantum processors and protected quantum resources," comments Lai.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
But one result of associated life is that it paves the way for the emergence of mind as an active force in social evolution.
From A Grammar of Freethought by Cohen, Chapman
It paved the way for her to assume the role of president should Ortega, who is believed to be in frail health, should be declared "permanently absent".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
SpaceX has paved the way for the space industry to flourish, and its initial public offering drove investment to new heights.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
What had begun as a contingency paved the way for “a profound artistic opportunity.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Along the neatly paved road linking the city centre to the small, pristine local airport, many shops bear signs in Chinese characters.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
The path was paved with broken stones on one side and gleaming white diamond-shaped tiles on the other.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Wednesday to prepare for paving when water began coming up from the area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The lawsuit delayed the roundup, also known as a gather, but in February a U.S. magistrate judge ruled in favor of the government, paving the way for it to move forward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Earlier this week, Paris and Berlin hammered out an agreement to hold equal stakes in the maker of Leopard and Leclerc tanks as well as other crucial land systems, paving the way for the listing.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Sir Keir quit as Labour leader on Monday, paving the way for a new prime minister to replace him as early as next month.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
They were regularly joined by a stonecutter from the city’s paving yard named John Barry, who enjoyed their company.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
