Synonyms

carve

American

[kahrv] / kɑrv /

verb (used with object)

to cut (a solid material) so as to form something.

to carve a piece of pine.
to form from a solid material by cutting.

to carve a statue out of stone.
to cut into slices or pieces, as a roast of meat.
to decorate with designs or figures cut on the surface.

The top of the box was beautifully carved with figures of lions and unicorns.
to cut (a design, figures, etc.) on a surface.

Figures of lions and unicorns were carved on the top of the box.
to make or create for oneself (often followed byout ).

He carved out a career in business.

verb (used without object)

to carve figures, designs, etc.
to cut meat.

carve British

/ kɑːv /

verb

(tr) to cut or chip in order to form something

to carve wood
to decorate or form (something) by cutting or chipping

to carve statues
to slice (meat) into pieces

to carve a turkey

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of carve

before 1000; Middle English kerven, Old English ceorfan to cut; cognate with Middle Low German kerven, German kerben, Greek gráphein to mark, write; see graph

Explanation

When you cut a design into a piece of wood or marble, you carve it. Headstone engravers carve people's names and the dates of their births and deaths into gravestones. You might carve your initials into the tree in your backyard, or carve a walking stick out of a large branch. Some artists work by carving shapes from clay or granite, and a chef learns to carve, or precisely cut up, large cuts of meat and poultry. The Old English root word is ceorfan, "to cut, slay, carve, or engrave."

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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.

It takes great courage to look into the past with clear eyes, especially when what you’ll see is bound to remain hazy, forcing you to squint and carve out whatever truth you can from it.

From Salon • May 25, 2026

Can Cerebras carve out a piece of that dynamic market?

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Even under a beaming sun, the ruins, aproned by the graveyard of the nearby Norman church of St. Mary’s, carve a formidable black silhouette against the sky.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

Wu, who uses a translator in his news conferences, shared a bed with his father in a windowless flat in the Steel City as he tried to carve out a career in professional snooker.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

She only hesitated a moment before she took the knife and began to carve.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023