- a place in the ground where a dead person is buried
- We visited Grandma's grave.
- British war graves in France and Belgium
- in a grave The plague victims were buried in a mass grave.
- on a grave There were flowers on the grave.
Extra ExamplesTopics Religion and festivalsc1, Life stagesc1- A mass grave has been discovered in a wood outside the village.
- His body is buried in an unmarked grave.
- She puts fresh flowers on her husband's grave every Sunday.
- Some of the graves have been desecrated by vandals.
- The body was found in a shallow grave in a nearby wood.
- The grave was marked by a simple headstone.
- The mourners threw flowers into the open grave.
- Whenever he goes home he visits his mother's grave.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- shallow
- open
- …
- dig
- mark
- desecrate
- …
- beyond the grave
- in a/the grave
- on a/the grave
- …
- [singular] (often the grave)(usually literary) a way of referring to death or a person’s death
- Is there life beyond the grave (= life after death)?
- He followed her to the grave (= died soon after her).
- She smoked herself into an early grave (= died young as a result of smoking).
Extra Examples- He rescued her from a watery grave (= from drowning)
- I'll be in my grave by the time that happens!
- The old lady still influences the family from beyond the grave.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- shallow
- open
- …
- dig
- mark
- desecrate
- …
- beyond the grave
- in a/the grave
- on a/the grave
- …
Word OriginOld English græf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch graf and German Grab. The adjective dates from late 15th cent. (originally of a wound in the sense ‘severe, serious’): from Old French grave or Latin gravis ‘heavy, serious’.
Idioms
See grave in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee grave in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishdig your own grave | dig a grave for yourself
- to do something that will have very harmful results for you
from the cradle to the grave
- a way of referring to the whole of a person’s life, from birth until death
have one foot in the grave
- (informal) to be so old or ill that you are not likely to live much longerTopics Health problemsc2
turn in his/her grave (British English)
(North American English also roll (over) in his/her grave)
- (of a person who is dead) likely to be very shocked or angry
- My father would turn in his grave if he knew.
Check pronunciation:
grave1