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.
paves
-
present tense formof pave (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
pavés
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pluralof pavé.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
paveverb (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.
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:
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
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
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
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
Mediators are using a lull in the fighting to patch together a quick fix to reopen the strait, hoping it paves the way for substantive talks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 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
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
Thus he paves the way for his tardy rebuke of present disorders, which he reserves until two-thirds of his epistle is completed.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various
