carve
English
Etymology
From Middle English kerven, from Old English ceorfan, from Proto-West Germanic *kerban, from Proto-Germanic *kerbaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”). Cognate with West Frisian kerve, Dutch kerven, Low German karven, German kerben (“to notch”); also Old Prussian gīrbin (“number”), Old Church Slavonic жрѣбии (žrěbij, “lot, tallymark”), Ancient Greek γράφειν (gráphein, “to scratch, etch”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /kɑɹv/
Audio (US) (file)
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɑːv/
Audio (UK) (file) - Homophone: calve (Received Pronunciation)
- Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)v
Verb
carve (third-person singular simple present carves, present participle carving, simple past carved, past participle carved or (archaic) carven)
- (archaic) To cut.
- 1834 September (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Sir Galahad”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 1008064829, stanza I, page 174:
- My good blade carves the casques of men, / My tough lance thrusteth sure, / My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure.
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- To cut meat in order to serve it.
- You carve the roast and I’ll serve the vegetables.
- To shape to sculptural effect; to produce (a work) by cutting, or to cut (a material) into a finished work.
- to carve a name into a tree
- 1920, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thuvia, Maiden of Mars, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
- The facades of the buildings fronting upon the avenue within the wall were richly carven […] .
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter I, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, OCLC 483591931:
- The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise.
- (snowboarding) To perform a series of turns without pivoting, so that the tip and tail of the snowboard take the same path.
- (figuratively) To take or make, as by cutting; to provide.
- 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), 6th edition, London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, OCLC 21766567:
- […] who could easily have carved themselves their own food.
- 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:
- The Reds carved the first opening of the second period as Glen Johnson's pull-back found David Ngog but the Frenchman hooked wide from six yards.
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- To lay out; to contrive; to design; to plan.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iii]:
- Lie ten nights awake carving the fashion of a new doublet.
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Derived terms
Derived terms
- carved in stone
- carve out
- carver
- carvery
- carve up
- carving knife
- cut and carve
- file carving
Related terms
- kerf
Translations
to cut
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to cut meat
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to shape to sculptural effect
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snowboarding: to perform a series of turns without pivoting
to take or make, as by cutting; to provide
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to lay out; to contrive; to design; to plan
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Noun
carve (plural carves)
- (obsolete) A carucate.
- 1862, Calendar of the Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland
- ... half a carve of arable land in Ballyncore, one carve of arable land in Pales, a quarter of arable land in Clonnemeagh, half a carve of arable land in Ballyfaden, half a carve of arable land in Ballymadran, ...
- 1868, John Harland (editor), Wapentake of West Derby, in Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, (translating a Latin text c. 1320-46), page 31
- Whereof John de Ditton holds a moiety of the village for half a carve of land.
- 1862, Calendar of the Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery in Ireland
- The act of carving
- give that turkey a careful carve
Anagrams
- Caver, caver, crave, varec
Middle English
Verb
carve
- Alternative form of kerven