engrave
Americanverb (used with object)
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to chase (letters, designs, etc.) on a hard surface, as of metal, stone, or the end grain of wood.
She had the jeweler engrave her name on the back of the watch.
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to print from such a surface.
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to mark or ornament with incised letters, designs, etc..
He engraved the ring in a floral pattern.
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to impress deeply; infix.
That image is engraved on my mind.
verb
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to inscribe (a design, writing, etc) onto (a block, plate, or other surface used for printing) by carving, etching with acid, or other process
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to print (designs or characters) from a printing plate so made
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to fix deeply or permanently in the mind
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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engravernoun
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underengravernoun
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reengraveverb (used with object)
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superengraveverb (used with object)
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engravableadjective
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unengravedadjective
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well-engravedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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engravesimple
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engravessimple
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have engravedperfect
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has engravedperfect
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am engravingprogressive
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are engravingprogressive
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is engravingprogressive
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have been engravingperfect progressive
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has been engravingperfect progressive
Past
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engravedsimple
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had engravedperfect
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was engravingprogressive
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were engravingprogressive
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had been engravingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of engrave
Explanation
To engrave is to carve into something, especially stone. Sometimes people have messages engraved inside their wedding rings, their iPods, or any other rock-hard surface that can handle it. Words are engraved on tombstones to honor the people who died. Grave used to mean “to dig or carve” but no one uses it that way anymore because they would say engrave instead. Anytime a hard surface has a message or picture cut into, it was engraved. Sometimes engraving isn’t physical. A super fun birthday when your long lost grandmother rode in on a stallion could be engraved in your mind forever. Both kinds of engraving leave an impression.
Vocabulary lists containing engrave
Frindle
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The Marvels
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The Renaissance and Reformation, Lessons 1–2
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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:
Everyone who the company hires to engrave starts with zero experience, and part of the challenge is the process itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
Before, to engrave the circuits on the silicon plates used in electronic devices like mobile phones, it was necessary to use polluting chemical products.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2024
Might as well engrave the nameplate on the NFL offensive rookie of the year award now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2023
A love lock is a padlock couples can engrave with their names before adding to a bridge, fence or installation at a special destination.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2023
“If you help us, your name goes on the key, too. You couldn’t engrave it yourself, though. It’s bad luck. Who else at the store does engravings?”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Nolan’s “Odyssey” engraves marvelous images onto the ancient oral poem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Employing a nano-imprinting process that engraves the pattern like a stamp, the team achieved the rapid and inexpensive production of metalenses that are 20,000 times larger than conventional ones.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024
He said that many local business in the area, including his own, which engraves stone, had offered their time and resources to restore the structure.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
A machine engraves information on an ingot of 99.98 percent pure palladium at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022.
From Reuters ● May 15, 2022
Every soldier laid to rest upon the battle-field engraves it still deeper upon the nation's heart.
From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various
On one side stood people wearing silver bracelets engraved with the emblem of the Church of Scientology, an “S” woven through two triangles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Seven years and dozens of trips later, I engraved “I will travel with you” on the inside of our wedding rings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
The Bacon Hole discovery came a decade after Nash found a reindeer engraved on the wall of a cave nearby, which was confirmed in 2012 as the then-oldest known rock art in Britain in 2012.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
It will be engraved with my name and the dates of my birth and death, and also with the symbols of six religions, carved in a single line.
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2026
“What would you like me to put on it?” the cashier asked when we went to get it engraved.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
Twiggs testified that Robinson had asked weeks earlier about using an engraving tool in advance of an upcoming hunting and camping trip with his family.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
At one point, Arkapaw rushed off the engraving platform to retrieve her phone from an assistant to document the moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
More than 40,000 years ago, early humans were already engraving symbols onto tools, figurines, and other objects.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026
How should skilled work in a field like engraving be supported?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
The couple decided to move to Johann’s hometown of Nuremberg, a smaller and more conservative city, where Maria helped Johann establish an engraving and publishing firm.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
