engrave
Americanverb (used with object)
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engraves,
present (3rd person singular)
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engraved,
past participle, past
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engraving
present participle
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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:
It took three years of training before he was allowed to engrave small pieces for customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
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
I also love the fact that they could have put it in a font, in something computer-generated, but they chose to engrave it in my handwriting.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 7, 2023
Wear Jennie Yoon’s locket as a blank oval — she also sells a heart-shaped locket — or engrave it with a signature letter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
“A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever.”
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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
The beauty of the world consists in that sweet order, and harmonious subordination of all things, to that law God hath imposed upon them, or engraves upon their natures.
From The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Hugh Binning
The words are literally institutionalized, engraved on a bell at the UC Santa Barbara campus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Evans told Owen that she unexpectedly burst into tears while watching his Emmy awards being engraved, saying that was the moment it "sank in".
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Suzanne, who is "so strong but not overly sentimental", sent her an engraved miniature picture frame out of the blue years later simply thanking Louise for being there when she was needed.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
The restaurant, with higher gross revenue than any other in America during its final year of operation, remains engraved in tragic legend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Mr. Chumley shakes my hand and gives me the heavy engraved glass.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
We see Holbein’s image of Anne multiplying through an 18th-century oil portrait; Jacob Houbraken’s 1738 engraving and a constellation of miniature copies; and Queen Victoria’s sketch of Giulia Grisi singing in Donizetti’s opera “Anna Bolena.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
At the foot of the coffin was an engraving of a pair of wings that were embroidered on one of her stage jackets.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“Compromise - if the Carolina Hurricanes owner wants to do this how about just engraving ‘The Dundon Family’ instead of each name?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 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
Breathing in that familiar tang of ink and damp paper, she practiced the time-consuming process of copper engraving, which could transform one design into many prints.
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.
