- present participle of pave.
noun
-
a paved surface; pavement
-
material used for a pavement, such as paving stones, bricks, or asphalt
adjective
-
of or for a paved surface or pavement
-
preparatory, facilitating, enabling
paving legislation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of paving
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at pave, -ing 1
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:
A federal judge last week approved Paramount’s settlement with 12 state attorneys general to resolve an antitrust case, paving the way for the acquisition to close.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
“He was a literal example of paving the way and showing that U.K. rap can take up space in music.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 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
Last year Washington designated several of Ecuador's top gangs as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations," expanding the legal tools available to US authorities and paving the way for closer military and intelligence cooperation.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Meggie listened to it drumming on the paving stones.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
The team visually unified opposite sides of the street with pavings of red brick, which function as a visual bridge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
Building works take up a chunk of the stone pavings, where a raging fire in March in the parking lot below has de-stabilized the elegant place.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2012
Almost five inches of additional layers including concrete, waterproofing and pavings sat between the slab and the surface that residents walked on, according to a 2020 engineer’s report.
From Washington Post
From early morning the cobbled pavings clattered beneath the feet of multitudes wending their way to St. Peter's Square.
From Time Magazine Archive
The floor of the first row is covered with schist pavings from Beauchamps laid in 1969.
From Romanesque Art in Southern Manche: Album by Marie Lebert
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.
