English
gravel
see also: Gravel
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈɡɹævəl/
Noun

gravel (uncountable)

  1. (uncountable) Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
  2. A type or grade of small rocks, differentiated by mineral type, size range, or other characteristics.
  3. (uncountable, geology) A particle from 2 to 64 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
  4. (uncountable, archaic) Kidney stones; a deposit of small calculous concretions in the kidneys and the urinary or gall bladder; also, the disease of which they are a symptom.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

gravel (gravels, present participle gravelling; past and past participle gravelled)

  1. (transitive) To apply a layer of gravel to the surface of a road, etc.
  2. To puzzle or annoy
  3. To run (as a ship) upon the gravel or beach; to run aground; to cause to stick fast in gravel or sand.
    • Bible, Acts xxvii. 41 (Rhemish version)
      When we were fallen into a place between two seas, they gravelled the ship.
    • 1605, William Camden, “Grave Speeches and wittie Apothegms of worthy Personages of this Realm in former times,” in William_Camden#Remaines_Concerning_Britain, London: Simon Miller, sixth impression, 1657, p. 243,
      William Conqerour when he invaded this Iland, chanced at his arrival to be gravelled, and one of his feet stuck so fast in the sand, that he fell to the ground.
  4. To check or stop; to embarrass; to perplex.
    • 1579, Sir Thomas North, tr., Plutarch's Lives, The Life of Marcus Antonius ↗:
      The physician was so gravelled and amazed withal, that he had not a word more to say.
    • 1598, Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act IV:
      When you were gravelled for lack of matter.
    • 1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier, Ch. VIII:
      […] I arrived at a spot where I was completely gravelled, and could go no farther one way or the other; […]
  5. To hurt or lame (a horse) by gravel lodged between the shoe and foot.
Translations
Gravel
Proper noun
  1. Surname


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