grave¹ / grāv/ • n. a place of burial for a dead body, typically a hole dug in the ground and marked by a stone or mound: the coffin was lowered into the grave. ∎  (the grave) used as an allusive term for death: life beyond the grave. ∎  a place where a broken piece of machinery or other discarded object lies: lift the aircraft from its watery grave.PHRASES: dig one's own grave do something foolish that causes one to fail or be ruined. (as) silent (or quiet) as the grave extremely quiet.take the (or one's, etc.) secret to the grave die without revealing a secret.turn (also turn over) in one's grave used to express the opinion that something would have caused anger or distress to someone who is now dead: Bach must be turning in his grave at the vulgarities of the twentieth century.grave² • adj. giving cause for alarm; serious: a matter of grave concern. ∎  serious or solemn in manner or appearance; somber: his face was grave.• n. also / gräv/ another term for grave accent.DERIVATIVES: grave·ly adv.grave·ness n.grave³ • v. (past part. grav·en / ˈgrāvən/ or graved) [tr.] archaic engrave (an inscription or image) on a surface. ∎ poetic/lit. fix (something) indelibly in the mind: the times are graven on my memory.grave⁴ • v. [tr.] hist. clean (a ship's bottom) by burning off the accretions and then tarring it.

grave take the secret to the grave die without revealing a secret.
turn in one's grave used to express the opinion that something would have caused anger or distress in someone who is now dead.

See also one foot in the grave, white man's grave.

grave2 (dial.) dig OE.; (dial., orig. from ON.) bury XIII; (arch.) engrave OE. OE. str. vb. grafan = OS. bigraban (Du. graven), OHG. graban (G. graben), ON. grafa, Goth. graban dig :- Gmc. *ʒraðan; IE. cogns. are OSl. -grebǫ I dig, Latv. grebju I scrape. The strong pt. died out in XV; pp. graven survives as a literary arch.; wk. forms appeared in XIV in pt. and pp.

grave1 place dug out for a burial. OE. græf = OS. graf, OHG. grap (G. grab) :- WGmc. *ʒraba (cf. ON. grǫf, Goth. graba :- *ʒraðō); f. *ʒrað- GRAVE2.

grave3 weighty, important; serious XVI; plain, sombre XVII; (gram.) opp. acute XVII. — (O)F. grave or L. gravis heavy, important, corr. to Skr. gurú-, Gr. barús, Goth. kaurus heavy.