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:
The decision - which comes after years of debate and legal challenges - will pave the way for gas to be extracted from it and used in Britain's gas network within weeks.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 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
A listing could pave the way for Seven & i to secure a higher valuation, closing the stock-price gap that made it an attractive target for foreign takeovers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Allowing the contributions to the group trust could pave the way for future big-time stock donations by companies and individuals, according to IRS regulations released earlier this week.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
In a few years he will graduate and pave his way, alone and unprotected.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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
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
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
Crossing the railway tracks by the shell-shattered station we struck into the Dickiebush—Bailleul Road, and drove slowly homeward over the rough pavé.
From On the Fringe of the Great Fight by George G. (George Gallie) Nasmith
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
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
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
Evading plot holes, “It Ends” paves over the obvious biological needs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 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
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 hall lecturer opens easily and paves the way for the treatment of his theme, but the street speaker would get no crowd or a small one by such a method.
From The Art of Lecturing Revised Edition by Arthur M. (Arthur Morrow) Lewis
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
The legislation paved the way for the creation of California’s nation-leading carbon market, cap-and-invest, which launched in 2013.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
His victory alongside that of fellow trader Carlo Palombo, who was jailed in 2019, paved the way for others to challenge their convictions.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
A settlement paved the way for it to move forward—just as yields were jumping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
“And Pennsylvania Avenue was not paved, but was always in an awful condition from either mud or dust. The city was a dreary place.”
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
"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
She stepped cautiously over the broken brick paving in her brown felt moccasins.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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