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Webster 1913 Edition


Greave

Greave

,
Noun.
A grove.
[Obs.]
Spenser.

Greave

,
Noun.
[OF.
grees
; cf. Sp.
grevas
.]
Armor for the leg below the knee; – usually in the plural.

Greave

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Greaved
(grēvd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Greaving
.]
[From
Greaves
.]
(
Naut.
)
To clean (a ship’s bottom); to grave.

Webster 1828 Edition


Greave

GREAVE

, for grove and groove. [See Grove and Groove.]

Definition 2024


greave

greave

English

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

  1. (obsolete) A bush; a tree; a grove.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  2. (obsolete) A bough; a branch.

Etymology 2

From Middle English greve, greyve, from Old English grǣfa, grēfa (pit, cave, hole, grave, trench), from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (pit, ditch), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (to dig, scratch, scrape). Cognate with North Frisian groop (pit, sewer, gutter), Dutch groef (pit, hole, gutter), German Grube (pit, hole), Icelandic gröf (pit, grave).

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

  1. (obsolete) A ditch or trench.

Etymology 3

From Middle English greve, grayve, from Old French greve (shin), of uncertain origin; possibly from Egyptian Arabic جورب (stocking, leg cover).

Alternative forms

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

  1. A piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin.
  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:greave.
Translations

Etymology 4

From greaves (residue left after animal fat has been rendered).

Verb

greave (third-person singular simple present greaves, present participle greaving, simple past and past participle greaved)

  1. (nautical, transitive) To clean (a ship's bottom); to grave.

See also

  • greaves (residue left after animal fat has been rendered)

Anagrams

References

  • Klein, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language