gravel

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable, usually) Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
2. (uncountable, usually) A type or grade of small rocks, differentiated by mineral type, size range, or other characteristics.
3. (uncountable, usually) A particle from 2 to 64 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
4. (archaic, uncountable, usually) 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.
5. (uncountable, usually) A lameness in the foot of a horse, usually caused by an abscess.
6. (rare, uncountable, usually) Inability to see at night; night blindness.
7. (uncountable, usually) Gravel cycling, a discipline in cycling different from road cycling, mountain biking or cyclocross, for a large part on gravel roads, typically with a dedicated gravel bike.
8. (slang, uncountable, usually) The stimulant drug alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone.

Verb

1. (transitive) To apply a layer of gravel to the surface of a road, etc.
2. (transitive) To puzzle or annoy.
3. (transitive) To run (as a ship) upon the gravel or beach; to run aground; to cause to stick fast in gravel or sand.
4. (transitive) To check or stop; to confound; to perplex.
5. (transitive) To hurt or lame (a horse) by gravel lodged between the shoe and foot.
6. (archaic, slang, transitive) To prostrate; to beat to the ground.

Synonyms

grit

pebbles

sand

pebble

irritate

rubble

vex

small stones

nettle

nark

bother

chafe

rile

rag

get

ballast

crushed rock

get at

annoy

devil

perplex

get to

shingle

coarse sand

stupefy

amaze

baffle

beat

bewilder

crushed stone

dumbfound

flummox

mystify

nonplus

pose

puzzle

slack

soil

stick

stone

🪨

exasperate

jar

🫙

laterite

miff

mind

mud

bug

🐛

exacerbate

earth

small stone

Translations

gravier

Kies

ghiaia

grava

cascalho

Schotter

cascajo

gravilla

χαλίκι

schottern

steengruis

grind

kiesen

αμμοχάλικο

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡɹævəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: gravel

Cognate with Breton: groa

Cognate with Cornish: grow

Cognate with Welsh: gro

Cognate with Old English: græfa

In summary

From Middle English gravel, grauel, from Old French gravele, diminutive of grave (“gravel, seashore”), from Medieval Latin grava, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *grāwā (“gravel, pebbles”) (compare Breton groa, Cornish grow, Welsh gro), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroh₁weh₂, from *gʰreh₁w- (“to grind”). Compare also Old English græfa (“coal”).

Sentences

Breccia is an Italian word meaning " gravel ".

The turf and gravel around it seemed charred as if by a sudden explosion .

And the sand and gravel had been flung violently in every direction .