carve

verb

carved; carving

transitive verb

1
: to cut with care or precision
carved fretwork
2
: to make or get by or as if by cutting
often used with out
carve out a career
3
: to cut into pieces or slices
carved the turkey

intransitive verb

1
: to cut up and serve meat
2
: to work as a sculptor or engraver
carver noun

Examples of carve in a Sentence

We carved an ice sculpture. Who is going to carve the turkey? He carved while I made the gravy.
Recent Examples on the Web That deal required merely undoing an acquisition, rather than carving off a business from its longtime ownership. Eva Dou, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024 These names bring life to the goals of the mission and the dreams of the people creating them, and carve out a designation to make a mark on the history of space exploration. Popular Science, 14 Mar. 2024 In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE at the show's season 7 premiere, Bassett, who plays Athena Grant, reveals that her relationship with Krause's Bobby Nash wasn't originally in the cards until series creator Tim Minear carved out his vision. Alex Cramer, Peoplemag, 14 Mar. 2024 He’s carved out a niche that focuses on a small number of elaborate adventures; a few dozen custom itineraries are developed on demand each year. The Editors, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2024 In 1992, Blum, who made his living as a stockbroker, decided to run for Congress as a Republican in a Texas district carved out to ensure Black representation. Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 According to the Capterra survey, businesses have found the social network to be particularly useful in capitalizing on trends, carving out a distinct niche for their brand and educating customers about their products and services. Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 House Bill 1183 carves out exceptions for dual citizens of these countries and the United States, people who are permanent residents of the U.S., and people who are only renting a residential property. Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Mar. 2024 The best room There’s a fistful of room categories at this hotel, cannily carved out of the conversion footprint, which took the former room count down from 72 to just 50, so choose carefully. Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'carve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English kerven, from Old English ceorfan; akin to Old High German kerban to notch, Greek graphein to scratch, write

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of carve was before the 12th century

Cite this Entry

“Carve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carve. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

carve

verb
carved; carving
1
: to cut with care or exactness
2
: to cut into pieces or slices
3
: to cut up and serve meat
carver noun

More from Merriam-Webster on carve

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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