Meaning
-
- Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
- A type or grade of small rocks, differentiated by mineral type, size range, or other characteristics.
- A particle from 2 to 64 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
- 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.
- A lameness in the foot of a horse, usually caused by an abscess.
- Inability to see at night; night blindness.
- 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.
- (slang) The stimulant drug alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone.
Synonyms
small stones
crushed rock
coarse sand
crushed stone
small stone
object to
volcanic rock
bank gravel
pit run
gruss
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈɡɹævəl/
Etymology
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”).
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Notes
