graveln.
/ˈɡravəl/ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun] > quicksand
quick gravela1300
quicksanda1300
sucking sand1513
Syrtis1526
sinking sand1531
syrt1574
Serbonian boga1618
flow1819
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > stony material > [noun] > sand
sandc825
gravela1300
a1300 Cursor Mundi 2347 Naman suld cun sume ne neuen..Namar þen grauel in þe see.
a1325 Prose Psalter lxxvii[i]. 31 He rained..volatils feþered as grauel of þe se.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter i. 1 The rightwisman passis that way swiftly, as he that gas on qwik grauel, that gers him synk that standis thar on.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr.) iii. metr. x. 74 Alle the thinges that the Ryver tagus geueth yow with hys goldene grauayles.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxiii. 150 In þat riuer er many precious stanes..and mykill grauell of gold.
c1450 Mirour Saluacioun 1624 My synne passes in noumbre the gravell..in the see.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 5 All is lost that is yeuen vnto them, right as the reyne falleth vpon the grauel.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. iv. sig. Ff2 All the grauell mixt with golden owre.
1711 J. Swift Midas 1 People travel From far, to gather golden Gravel.
2.
a. A material consisting of coarse sand and water-worn stones of various sizes, often with a slight intermixture of clay, much used for laying roads and paths. (In early use not clearly distinguished from sense 1.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > gravel, small, or broken stones
gravel?a1366
road drift1789
hoggin1793
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > stony material > [noun] > gravel or shingle > gravel
gravel?a1366
glair1481
preble1541
rab1581
grail1590
channel1592
?a1366 Romaunt Rose 127 Tho saugh I wel The botme paved everydel With gravel, ful of stones shene.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. i. 825 Grauel and sonde is more harde in substance þanne [comyn] erþe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9938 Four strandes rinnes suete Thoru þat grauel and þat grett.
?1504 S. Hawes Example of Vertu sig. ee.vi The hall paued was..With none other grauell but precyous stones.
1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 9 §6 Anie maner of balast rubbish grauell or any other wracke, or filth.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xvi. 17 With great valleyes full of gravel and large stones very painful too goe upon.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 155 Proofes as cleere as Founts in Iuly, when Wee see each graine of grauell . View more context for this quotation
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler i. 22 The Cuttle-fish, being then hid in the gravel, lets the smaller fish nibble and bite the end of it. View more context for this quotation
1679–88 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) (Camden) 105 [Amount paid] for the carting of gravel..and laying the gravell upon the walks in St. James's Park.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 179. ⁋8 A spacious Walk of the finest Gravel.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. II. 297 There is one great defect in the Italian gardens, viz. the want of gravel for the walks.
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 258 The soil consists chiefly of rich clay, loam, and sharp gravel.
1815 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. (ed. 2) xi. 253 Gravel is evidently an alluvial production.
1833 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 146 During the gradual rise of a large area..several kinds of superficial gravel must be formed.
1872 R. B. Smyth Mining Statist. 34 Strata of gravel and coarse sands.
1886 W. Hooper Sketches Acad. Life (Durh.) 38 The fragment may be utterly pounded down, till it becomes gravel or even sand.
b. figurative and in allusions to Proverbs 20:17.
ΚΠ
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 282 Takyth a spade, & deluyth out þis grauel of obstinacye fro þe herte, tunge, & dede.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xx. C Euery man liketh the bred that is gotten with disceate, but at the last is mouth shalbe fylled with grauell.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxii. 147 Shall this be thought to turne cælestiall bread into grauell?
1605 Bp. J. Hall Medit. & Vowes II. §77 I will not enuie the grauell in the vniust mans throte.
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) iii. xxxix. 19 Wealth gotten by grinding the poore, shall never prove good meale. God will mixe it with gravell to them that eate it.
1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions i. ii. 24 What you thus get is but stolne goods..and will prove at the last no other than gravell in your throat.
c. Geology and Mining. A stratum of this material, esp. one that contains gold. pay gravel: see pay n. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > auriferous gravel
alluvial1818
placer1829
gravel1849
washing-stuff1853
pay gravel1857
wash-gravel1860
wash-dirt1862
1849 R. I. Murchison Siluria xix. 473 The various ages of golden gravels or Drifts.
1876 Whitney in Encycl. Brit. IV. 701/2 It was not long before it was discovered that the so-called ‘high-gravels’—that is, the detrital deposits of Tertiary age—contained gold.
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 622 Gravel.—The term refers to the water-worn pebbles or bowlders which occur generally as a more or less compact conglomerate, immediately overlying the bed-rock.
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 623 The term red gravel is given to the brownish or reddish colored conglomerate which forms the top and overlies the blue gravel.
3. U.S. = ballast n. 4. (See quot. 1868.)
ΚΠ
1868 B. J. Lossing Hudson (new ed.) 280 Many vessels are employed in carrying away lime, limestone, and ‘gravel’ (pulverized limestone, not fit for the kiln). [Cf. gravel-car, -train in 8.]
4. Pathology. A term applied to: aggregations of urinary crystals which can be recognized as masses by the naked eye (as distinguished from sand); (also) the disease of which these are characteristic. ‘Also popularly used to indicate pain or difficulty in passing urine with or without any deposit’ ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon 1886).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > urinary disorders > [noun] > calculus or sediment
stonec1000
gravelc1400
hypostasy1547
hypostasis1590
furfur1621
lithiasis1657
epistasis1807
xanthic calculus1817
urostealite1854
crystalluria1916
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 274 If þe grauel of his vrine be whit: þan þe stoon is in þe bladdre.
15.. Almanak for 1386 24 Rede gravel bytokens ache, and þe stoon in þe raynes.
15.. in More's Wks. 1434 I had a while talked with him..of his diseases bothe in his brest of olde, & his reynes nowe, by reason of grauel and stone.
1568 (a1500) Freiris Berwik 40 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 262 For he wes awld and micht notwele travell And als he had ane littill spyce of gravell.
1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière Pract. Physick xiv. ii. 379 The Spaniards void much Gravel, and yet are not subject to the stone.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 89. ⁋8 I am very much afflicted with the Gravel.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) II. 351 Those [waters] of St. Amand cure the gravel and obstructions.
1830 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. 29 Afflicted with symptoms of gravel, and other calculous affections.
1874 W. H. Van Buren & E. L. Keyes Pract. Treat. Surg. Dis. Genito-urinary Organs 357 Gravel is more frequently seen in summer than at other seasons, on account of the greater activity of the skin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > disorders of feet or hooves
pains1440
mellitc1465
false quarter1523
gravelling?1523
founder1547
foundering1548
foot evil1562
crown scab1566
prick1566
quittor bone1566
moltlong1587
scratches1591
hoof-bound1598
corn1600
javar1600
frush1607
crepance1610
fretishing1610
seam1610
scratchets1611
kibe1639
tread1661
grease1674
gravel1675
twitter-bone1688
cleft1694
quittor1703
bleymes1725
crescent1725
hoof-binding1728
capelet1731
twitter1745
canker1753
grease-heels1753
sand-crack1753
thrush1753
greasing1756
bony hoof1765
seedy toe1829
side bone1840
cracked heel1850
mud fever1872
navicular1888
coronitis1890
toe-crack1891
flat-foot1894
1675 London Gaz. No. 988/4 Stolen..A Coal black Nag..the further Foot before his Hoof is cut for a Gravel.
6. Brewing. Applied to yeast-cells swimming in beer with the appearance of fine gravel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > yeast
yeastc1000
ale yeasta1450
neaving1681
beer-yeast1857
gravel1882
hop-yeast1884
pitching yeast1885
bee1923
1882 tr. Thausing's Beer ii. §2. ii. 596 It is a bad sign if the beer..is not transparent, when it has an appearance as if a veil was drawn over it, when no ‘gravel’ can be perceived.
7. Financial slang. (See quot. 1884.)
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > [noun] > money market > state or condition of
tightness1847
squeeze1872
short squeeze1877
stringency1877
gravel1884
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Feb. 5/1 A result of the appearance of gravel, as the phrase is when the supply of money in the market is growing bare.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
(a) (In senses 2a, 2c.) † gravel-heart n. figurative Obsolete
gravel-bank n.
ΚΠ
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 122 There being..no cemented strata to obstruct the washing down of the gravel-banks.
gravel bar n.
ΚΠ
1821 T. Nuttall Jrnl. Trav. Arkansa Territory vii. 136 Four miles above Dardennes commences the first gravel-bar, accompanied by very rapid water.
1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 20 We followed the trail through the water~lilies and slipped over the last gravel bar into the little stream that calls itself the Crooked River.
gravel beach n.
ΚΠ
1806 in Ann. 9th Congr. 2 Sess. 1118 The river becomes more obstructed by rapids, and sand, and gravel beaches.
gravel-bed n.
ΚΠ
1852 C. W. Hoskyns Talpa 202 It broke away into a perfect gravel-bed.
gravel-claim n.
ΚΠ
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 12 Permitting the development of the gravel claims.
gravel-deposit n.
ΚΠ
1874 J. Geikie Great Ice Age xvii. 254 The absence of gravel deposits from such districts is easily accounted for.
gravel-diggings n.
ΚΠ
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 35 There are about forty acres on this claim, all rich gravel-diggings.
gravel-drive n.
gravel-ground n. also attributive.
ΚΠ
a1450 Fysshynge wyth Angle (1883) 22 He [the trout] wyl not be but yn cleyn grauel grounde watur and yn a streme.
gravel-heap n.
ΚΠ
1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues (new ed.) A grauell-heape, gravoir.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. iii. 61 Vnfit to liue, or die: oh grauell heart.
gravel-mill n.
ΚΠ
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 624 The gravel must then be crushed in a gravel mill.
gravel-mine n.
ΚΠ
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 143 Gravel-mine, U.S. An accumulation of auriferous gravel.
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 13 Two of the principal gravel mines in the State.
gravel-mining adj.
ΚΠ
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 93 The extensive gravel-mining operations of Nevada County.
gravel-path n.
ΚΠ
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xvi. 176 The old man and the child quitted the gravel path.
gravel-place n.
ΚΠ
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Vne sablonniére, a grauell place.
gravel-soil n.
ΚΠ
1897 Omond Fletcher of Saltoun vi. 86 The gravel soil, and the salubrious climate [of London].
gravel-spit n.
ΚΠ
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People i. §2. 8 The little gravel-spit of Ebbsfleet.
gravel-sweep n.
ΚΠ
1810 Splendid Follies II. 104 The Ellercott family drove round the gravel sweep of Mistley Manor.
1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge III. xl. 120 The noise of wheels and hoofs upon the gravel-sweep.
gravel-terrace n.
ΚΠ
1874 J. Geikie Great Ice Age xvii. 250 The kames are then found to be restricted to valleys whose cols are either at or below 1,100 ft.—that is, the level reached by the gravel terraces.
gravel-working n.
ΚΠ
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 641 The cars and track used in the gravel workings.
(b) (In sense 3.)
gravel-car n.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Gravel-car, a railway ballast-wagon.
gravel-train n.
ΚΠ
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxxvi. 411 I have not jumped to this conclusion; I have traveled to it per gravel train, so to speak.
1881 Chicago Times 18 June The gravel train was backing up the track.
b. Parasynthetic.
gravel-bottomed adj.
ΚΠ
1864 J. A. Grant Walk across Afr. 38 Clear, gravel-bottomed river M'gazee.
1960 Times 13 Feb. 9/4 Clean gravel-bottomed reaches..will also yield good quality roach.
gravel-pathed adj.
ΚΠ
1898 Month Nov. 482 A trim gravel-pathed garden.
c. Instrumental.
gravel-spread adj.
ΚΠ
1855 Ld. Tennyson Daisy in Maud & Other Poems 139 Where oleanders flush'd the bed Of silent torrents, gravel-spread.
gravel-strewn adj.
ΚΠ
1927 W. G. Kendrew Climates of Continents (ed. 2) 241 The rivers, whose beds, dry, wide, and gravel-strewn in summer, often become filled in a few hours in winter by swollen torrents.
C2.
gravel-brook n. a brook that flows over a gravel-bed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > other
well streamOE
letch1138
well strandc1429
pow1481
black water1483
wash1530
gravel-brook1591
spring branch1650
pour1790
water splash1820
chalk stream1829
understream1830
water feeder1831
quebrada1833
black spring1847
weir-stream1889
obsequent1895
anti-dip1900
resequent1901
misfit1910
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. C Heere is my proofes as cleere as grauell brooke.
gravel court n. a lawn tennis court with a gravel surface.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > [noun] > court > types of
grass court1880
gravel court1890
clay court1916
en tout cas1928
1890 C. G. Heathcote Lawn Tennis in J. M. Heathcote et al. Tennis (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) xv. 294 Gravel courts, though at first sight attractive, have many serious defects.
1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 30 In the land of lobelias and tennis flannels..The nettle shall flourish on the gravel court.
gravel-crusher n. slang (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > type of soldier generally > [noun] > guilty of offence
defaulter1822
gravel-crusher1889
jankers1916
yardbird1941
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > foot-soldier
footmanc1325
page?a1400
pieton?1473
foot soldier1587
rondache1607
peon1609
tolpatch1705
foot wobbler1785
wobbler1785
doughboy1835
fantassin1835
mud-crusher1864
web foot1866
grabby1868
infantryman1883
flat-foot1889
gravel-crusher1889
foot-slogger1894
PBI1916
mud-slogger1936
infanteer1944
leg1969
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > airman > [noun] > non-flying member of air force > drill instructor
gravel-crusher1889
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang Gravel-crusher (military), a soldier compelled to tramp about a square at defaulter's drill.
1901 Daily News 9 Jan. 5/2 The ‘gravel-crushers’ (as the dismounted service is generically known).
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Gravel crushers, a slang expression equivalent to doughboy or infantry soldier, and the French fiflot.
1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 86 Gravel-crusher, a Drill Instructor; a P.T. Instructor. (Mostly Air Force.)
gravel-crushing adj. (see gravel-crusher n.).
ΚΠ
1900 Kynoch Jrnl. Feb.–Mar. 63/2 Cyclists..act more in conjunction with and as the eyes of their gravel-crushing comrades.
gravel culture n. a hydroponic method of plant cultivation, using beds of gravel supplied with nutrient solutions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > [noun] > hydroponics
aquaculture1887
sand culture1916
drip culture1923
aquaponics1937
hydroponics1937
gravel culture1940
ring culture1953
1936 Withrow & Biebel in Jrnl. Agric. Res. LIII. 697 Fine gravel..appears to be the most suitable for this type of culture.]
1940 A. Laurie Soilless Culture Simplified viii. 136 The advantage often claimed for sand or gravel culture—that of increased production—can easily be overstressed.
1942 A. Laurie & V. H. Ries Floriculture v. 104 If flat-bottomed concrete benches have already been built, they can be converted to gravel culture.
1966 New Scientist 23 June 784/3 Gravel culture may also open possibilities for basic food production in malnourished countries.
gravel eye n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > pigeon > parts of
pigeon's egg1651
gravel eye1855
1855 Poultry Chron. 3 9/1 The Suabian Pigeons..have generally a turned crown, gravel eye, and clean feet.
1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper 101 An altogether red, gravel, or orange eye is a decided fault.
gravel-eyed adj. (see quot. 1951).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [adjective] > of or belonging to pigeon and dove > of parts of
damask-coloured1630
clean1886
pin-winged1890
gravel-eyed1951
1951 E. Haedy A–Z Pigeon Guide 71 Gravel-eyed, white or pearl eye with red mixed in it.
gravel fly n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 28 The Spider, or Gravel-fly..appears about the middle of April, if the weather be warm... It is bred in the gravel.
gravel-grass n. Galium verum ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon 1886).
gravel iron n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1900 Daily News 22 Sept. 9/3 The ‘gravel iron’ at present in use on all Hansom cabs..strikes the ground with great force, causing severe shock or jerk.
gravel-plant n. Epigæa repens ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon 1886).
gravel-powder n. ‘coarse gunpowder, otherwise known as pebble-powder’ (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 1884).
gravel-rash n. colloquial abrasions caused by a fall on a gravelly or rugged surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > scratch or graze
scarta1585
scratcha1586
ranch1611
chalk1840
graze1847
gravel-rash1860
rope burn1880
road rash1892
1860 Slang Dict. Gravel-rash, a scratched face,—telling its tale of a drunken fall.
1891 Standard 21 Oct. 3/1 I admitted him and then saw he had the gravel-rash.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
gravel-root n. Eupatorium purpureum ( Treasury Bot. 1866).
gravel-throated adj. = gravel-voiced adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > hoarse or husky > having
hoarsea1000
crack-voiced1874
gravel-voiced1947
gravel-throated1955
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §188.7 Gravel-throat, a granular enunciation.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §422.9 Gravel-throat, one with a husky granular voice.]
1955 Jazzbook 1955 45 Joseph ‘De De’ Pierce, gravel-throated vocalist.
1962 ‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed viii. 157 A gravel-throated switchboard cop.
gravel voice n. a thick, husky voice.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [noun] > hoarse or husky quality > hoarse or husky voice
gravel voice1947
whisky voice1964
1947 Time 24 Nov. 29 The very sound of Earl Long's gravel voice.
1958 Times 5 July 4/1 The umpire's voice echoed the gravel voice on the radio which tells us what ‘the next object will be’ in a parlour game.
gravel-voiced adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > hoarse or husky > having
hoarsea1000
crack-voiced1874
gravel-voiced1947
gravel-throated1955
1947 Time 29 Dec. 15 Gravel-voiced Joe Curran, president of the National Maritime Union.
1952 Time 2 June 46/2 When Collier's hired gravel-voiced Louis Ruppel as editor three years ago, it knew it was buying a whirl-wind.
1963 Daily Tel. 25 Nov. 1/2 Dallas's detective chief, Capt. Will Fritz, a gravel-voiced Texan who sports a white cowboy hat.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
gravelv.
/ˈɡravəl/ 1. † b. To smother or choke with gravel or sand; also with up: literal and figurative. Obsolete.† c. To injure with grit or sand. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To cover, lay, or strew (a street, etc.) with gravel or sand. †Also, to sprinkle (a newly-written document) with sand (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > sprinkle > sprinkle (a surface) with something > (as) with specific substance
sandc1374
snowc1400
be-ash1530
gravel1543
bemeal1598
kern1613
meal1613
powder-sugar1654
ash1655
sawdust1882
1543 in W. L. Nash Churchwardens' Acct. Bk. St. Giles, Reading (1851) 67 For Amerciamentes for Cristyne Mores hous because it was not gravelled iiijd.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1877) II. 29 All the streates of the City of London beinge gravelled.
1607 T. Middleton Revengers Trag. i. sig. B3v And in a world of Acres, Not so much dust due to the heire t'was left too As would well grauell a petition.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 22 Apr. (1970) II. 82 The Streets all gravelled and the houses, hung with Carpets before them, made brave show.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 45 This Way of Graveling and Beating Walks.
1753 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 137 That the Public Walk.. be repaired and gravell'd.
1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek ii. 44 Half of it [the bridge] is prettily gravelled.
1841 F. Marryat Joseph Rushbrook II. vi. 125 The road was newly gravelled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close by obstruction or block up
fordita800
forstop?c1225
estopa1420
accloy1422
ferma1522
clam1527
quar1542
cloy1548
dam1553
occlude1581
clog1586
impeach1586
bung1589
gravel1602
impediment1610
stifle1631
foul1642
obstipate1656
obturate1657
choke1669
blockade1696
to flop up1838
jama1865
to ball up1884
gunge1976
1602 W. Fulbecke Parallele or Conf. Law ii. 74 I see your inuention and memorie are not grauelled nor dryed vp, parched as it were with summers drought.
1635 F. Quarles Emblemes i. vii. 30 O thou, the fountaine of whose better part Is earth'd, and gravil'd up with vaine desire.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (1681) 274 Now leave off watring your Meadows, lest you gravel or rot your Grass.
1686 R. P. Let. in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1698) 20 383 The Towns have either of them a great Beck (as we call it) or Current of Water running through them, which by the first Flood were gravel'd up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > scratch or graze
cratchc1320
scrat1340
cramse1440
scratch1474
crutch1481
rata1560
razea1586
gravel1608
ravel1621
graze1701
ruffle1731
skin1795
bark1850
1608 R. Armin Nest of Ninnies sig. A2 I fearefull presume not to looke into the milstone least I grauell my eye sight.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)] > by burying or submerging
gravel1577
entomb1593
immerge1644
snow1880
1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande iv. f. 16v/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I The dead bodies néede not in that Island to be graueled.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 74 Graueling in his hert [L. sub corde premebat] his sorroful anguish.
1686 R. P. Let. in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1698) 20 382 Several Houses were quite demolished, and not a Stone left; others gravel'd to the Chamber-Windows.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > absence of movement > be rendered immobile [verb (passive)] > be stuck in mud, bog, or sand
stalla1500
gravel1582
swamp1790
mud1854
stog1855
stodge1873
quicksand1875
society > travel > travel by water > grounding of vessel > be aground (by so much) [verb (transitive)] > cause to run aground > accidentally
warp1535
sand1560
gravel1582
strand1621
1582 Bible (Rheims) Acts xxvii. 41 When we were fallen into a place betwene two seas, they graveled the ship.
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. iii. vi. 62 Till the blacke Carauell, Stands still fast grauel'd on the mud of hell.
1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 189 William Conquerour when he invaded this Iland, chanced at his arrivall to be graveled, and one of his feete stacke so fast in the sand, that he fell to the ground.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 271 Our Almadie was so fast gravell'd, we were forced to unload.
4. figurative but without explicit reference to 3.
a. To set fast, confound, embarrass, non-plus, perplex, puzzle.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)] > nonplus
stagger1556
gravel1566
set1577
trump1586
bumbaze1587
puzzlec1595
ground1597
stunt1603
nonplus1605
pose1605
stumble1605
buzzard1624
quandary1681
bamboozle1712
hobble1762
stump1807
have1816
floor1830
flummox1837
stick1851
get1868
to stick up1897
buffalo1903
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Ev As yf some passyng man Shoulde..sweate agayne to grauayle thee.
a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. A4 I..haue with Consis syllogismes Graueld the Pastors of the Germaine Church.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iv. i. 70 Nay, you were better speake first, and when you were grauel'd, for lacke of matter, you might take occasion to kisse. View more context for this quotation
a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 168 Nicodemus, a Pharise by profession and breed, is grauelled in the Doctrine of Regeneration.
1638 W. Laud Wks. (1853) V. 213 Not propounding studied subtilties to gravel and discourage young students.
1651 Detection Faults Unskilful Physitians To Rdr. sig. I4v, in R. Record Urinal of Physick (new ed.) He is much troubled..for his being graveld at what is wrote against Aristotle.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 106 He..would not speak the Muscovian, but the Polish language, purposely to gravel the other.
1672 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd i. 30 The Surveyor was gravell'd, being asked whence that City should be supplied with water.
1706 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels III. 162 Such is that Passage by which our Saviour gravell'd the Scribes and Pharisees.
1741 I. Watts Improvem. Mind i. xiii. 186 To manage his Argument so well as to puzzle and gravel the Respondent.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 312 The freethinker..is not so prone to anger as the bigot, except now and then when gravelled in argument.
1796 S. T. Coleridge Fire, Famine & Slaughter in Poems Pref. The subtle and witty atheist that so grievously perplexed and gravelled him [Bishop Hall].
1841 R. W. Emerson Intellect in Ess. 1st Ser. (London ed.) 327 The wisest doctor is gravelled by the inquisitiveness of a child.
1850 E. P. Whipple Ess. & Rev. (ed. 3) I. 105 We might hear..Socrates gravel a sophist with his interrogative logic.
1862 Sat. Rev. 5 July 23 It imparts a certain air of connexion and design, where the writer is gravelled for want of either.
b. Of a question, difficulty, practice, subject of discussion, etc.: To prove embarrassing to; to confound, perplex, puzzle. Also U.S. To irritate, to ‘go against the grain with’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)]
abobc1330
confusec1350
confoundc1374
cumbera1375
passc1384
maskerc1400
mopc1425
enose1430
manga1450
overmusec1460
perplex1477
maze1482
enmuse1502
ruffle?a1505
unsteady1532
entangle1540
duddle1548
intricate1548
distraught1579
distract1582
mizzle1583
moider1587
amuse1595
mist1598
bepuzzle1599
gravel1601
plunder1601
puzzle1603
intrigue1612
vexa1613
metagrobolize?a1616
befumea1618
fuddle1617
crucify1621
bumfiddlea1625
implicate1625
giddify1628
wilder1642
buzzlea1644
empuzzle1646
dunce1649
addle1652
meander1652
emberlucock1653
flounder1654
study1654
disorient1655
embarrass?1656
essome1660
embrangle1664
jumble1668
dunt1672
muse1673
clutter1685
emblustricate1693
fluster1720
disorientate1728
obfuscate1729
fickle1736
flustrate1797
unharmonize1797
mystify1806
maffle1811
boggle1835
unballast1836
stomber1841
throw1844
serpentine1850
unbalance1856
tickle1865
fog1872
bumfuzzle1878
wander1897
to put off1909
defeat1914
dither1919
befuddle1926
ungear1931
to screw up1941
1601 A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 282 This question would grauel a great number.
1633 J. Hart Κλινικη i. ix. 33 Foure, or five daies abstinence, either from meate or drinke, will gravell most men and women.
1681 R. Wittie Οὐρανοσκοπια 18 A ready Answer..to the difficulties that gravel others about this stupendous Motion of the Sun.
1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. §97 It will perhaps gravel even a philosopher to comprehend it.
1794 R. Burns Let. 19 Oct. (2003) II. 318 These English Songs gravel me to death.
1871 J. Hay Banty Tim 15 It gravels me like the devil to train Along o' sich fools as you.
1875 ‘M. Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly June 721/2 It ‘gravels’ me, to this day, to put my will in the weak form of a request, instead of launching it in the crisp language of an order.
1886 J. R. Lowell Lett. (1894) II. 321 I wasn't thinking so much of the studies as of the method of teaching..when I wrote what gravels you.
5. Farriery. in passive and intransitive. Of a horse, or its feet: To be injured by particles of gravel or sand being forced between the shoe and the hoof.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > of horse: have disorder [verb (intransitive)] > disorders of feet or hooves
gravel1593
grease1737
scratch1737
wire1831
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > cause injury or disease of horse [verb (transitive)] > disorders of feet or hooves
founder1593
gravel1593
dry-founder1619
grease1737
wire1753
1593 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) I. 100 Dressing of a mare foot, gravelled at Lostoke, iijd.
1593 G. Gifford Dialogue Witches sig. Tiv I would carry him to the smith to search if he were not pricked or graueld.
1657 H. Crouch Welsh Traveller 15 His blistered feet were gravelled.
1688 London Gaz. No. 2411/4 One black Mare,..above 14 hands, and has been gravel'd of her neare Foot.
1710 London Gaz. No. 4674/8 The near Foot before pared very near towards the Heel, having been gravelled.
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xlvi. 600 By such injudicious Practice the Horse often gravels.
6. intransitive. = dust v.1 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (intransitive)] > clean
gravel1870
ant1944
1870 Blaine's Encycl. Rural Sports (rev. ed.) §2618 Where they [sc. partridges] bask at noontide, and where they preen, scratch, and gravel.
7. (See quot. 1902.)
ΚΠ
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 216 In winter the eelman goes ‘gravelling’, that is, scooping up gravel from the bottom to deepen any part of the channel.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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