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Definition of grieve verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

grieve

verb
 
/ɡriːv/
 
/ɡriːv/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they grieve
 
/ɡriːv/
 
/ɡriːv/
he / she / it grieves
 
/ɡriːvz/
 
/ɡriːvz/
past simple grieved
 
/ɡriːvd/
 
/ɡriːvd/
past participle grieved
 
/ɡriːvd/
 
/ɡriːvd/
-ing form grieving
 
/ˈɡriːvɪŋ/
 
/ˈɡriːvɪŋ/
Idioms
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  1. [intransitive, transitive] to feel very sad, especially because somebody has died
    • grieve (for/over somebody/something) They are still grieving for their dead child.
    • grieving relatives
    • grieve somebody/something She grieved the death of her husband.
    Extra Examples
    • She had grieved deeply for her father.
    • He spoke on behalf of the grieving families.
    • The couple are grieving over the loss of their daughter.
    Topics Feelingsc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • deeply
    • privately
    • silently
    preposition
    • for
    • over
    See full entry
  2. [transitive] (formal) to make you feel very sad synonym pain
    • it grieves somebody that… It grieved him that he could do nothing to help her.
    • grieve somebody Their lack of interest grieved her.
    • it grieves somebody to do something It grieved her to leave.
  3. Word OriginMiddle English (also in the sense ‘harm, oppress’): from Old French grever ‘burden, encumber’, based on Latin gravare, from gravis ‘heavy, grave’.
Idioms
what the eye doesn’t see (the heart doesn’t grieve over)
  1. (saying) if a person does not know about something that they would normally think was bad, then it cannot hurt them
    • What does it matter if I use his flat while he’s away? What the eye doesn’t see…!
See grieve in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
perspective
noun
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B2
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