gravel

Syllables: grav·el/ˈɡɹævəl/

gravel noun: small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.

Image: Stan Zurek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

gravel (usually uncountable, plural gravels)

(usually) Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
(usually) A type or grade of small rocks, differentiated by mineral type, size range, or other characteristics.
(usually) A particle from 2 to 64 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
(archaic, usually) Kidney stones, or nephrolithiasis
- The great use of coffee in France is supposed to have abated the prevalency of the gravel, for where coffee is used as a constant beverage, the gravel and the gout are scarcely known.1848, J. S. Skinner & Son, editor, The Plough, The Loom and the Anvil, volume I, Philadelphia: J. S. Skinner & Son, page 137
Synonyms:

chisel, chessil, stones, gallstones
(usually) A lameness in the foot of a horse, usually caused by an abscess.
- The defendant below hired the horse to go from Cocksackie to Schodack, and the next day after his arrival at the latter place, the horse was found to be lame in one foot; and the lameness increasing, the defendant below was obliged to leave the horse there, and hire another with which to return....1817, William Johnson, editor, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature, E. F. Backus, page 211
- 'Looks like pus in the foot to me.'
  'I'll bet you're right,' Farnon said. 'They call it gravel around here, by the way. What do you suggest we do about it?'1972, James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small, St. Martin's Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 22
(rare, usually) Inability to see at night; night blindness.
- A malady that was rare, but which because of its peculiarity elicited much comment, was "night blindness" or "gravel."1943, Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 255
(usually) 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, usually) The stimulant drug alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone.

Verb

gravel (third-person singular simple present gravels, present participle (US) graveling or (UK) gravelling, simple past and past participle (US) graveled or (UK) gravelled)

(transitive) To apply a layer of gravel to the surface of a road, etc.
- We kept quietly on our way until we reached a place in the road that had been freshly graveled, and where the surface was covered with stones just suited to our use.1905, John F. Hume, The Abolitionists
(transitive) To puzzle or annoy.
- The physician was so gravelled and amazed withal, that he had not a word more to say.1579, Sir Thomas North, tr., Plutarch's Lives, The Life of Marcus Antonius
- When you were gravelled for lack of matter.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
(ambitransitive) To run (as a ship) upon the gravel or beach; to run aground; to (cause to) be grounded in gravel or sand.
- William Conqerour when he invaded this Iland, chanced at his arrival to be gravelled, and one of his feet stuck so fast in the sand, that he fell to the ground.1605, William Camden, “Grave Speeches and wittie Apothegms of worthy Personages of this Realm in former times,” in Remaines Concerning Britain, London: Simon Miller, sixth impression, 1657, p. 243
- the keeled gravelled on the beach1902, Agnes C. Laut, Heralds of Empire: Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope
(obsolete, transitive) To hurt or lame (a horse) by gravel or similar material lodged between the shoe and foot.
(archaic, slang, transitive) To prostrate; to beat to the ground.

Proper noun capitalized: Gravel

Gravel (plural Gravels)

A surname.

gravel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

gravel in Hindi

small fragments of rock: बजरी bajrī

gravel in Tamil

கட்டிட மற்றும் சாலைப் பணிகளுக்கு, பயன்படுத்தப் படுகிறது

gravel in Bengali

নুড়ি, নুড়িপাথর

More languagesFewer languages

gravel in Telugu: శర్కర śarkara
gravel in Malayalam: പൊടിക്കല്ല്, കല്ലും മണലും, മൂത്രക്കല്ലടപ്പ്, ചരല്
gravel in Kannada: ನೊರಜು, ನರುಜು, ನರುಜು ಕಲ್ಲು, ನರುಜುನೆಲ
gravel in Punjabi: ਬਜਰੀ
gravel in Gujarati: જાડી રેતી jāḍī retī
gravel in Sanskrit: शर्करा śárkarā, सिकता síkatā
gravel in Nepali: बजरी
gravel in Tagalog: graba, gasang
gravel in Arabic: حَصَى ḥaṣā, حَصْبَاء ḥaṣbāʔ
gravel in Malay: batu kerikil
gravel in Indonesian: kerikil
gravel in Thai: กรวด grùuat
gravel in Vietnamese: sỏi

Examples of gravel in a sentence

About four weeks after, the horse was brought home, and showed signs of gravel working out above the hoof.1817, William Johnson, editor, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature, E. F. Backus, page 211:
[…] I arrived at a spot where I was completely gravelled, and could go no farther one way or the other; […]1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, “Ch. VIII”, in A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier:
It graveled me like sixty to pay such a price, but I had to do it because the season was just between hay and grass.1922, Herbert Quick, Vandemark's Folly:

All 40 example sentences with gravel

Synonyms of gravel

Forms of gravel

Noun
plural	gravels
Verb
third-person singular present	gravels
present participle US	graveling
present participle UK	gravelling
past participle US	graveled
past US	graveled
past participle UK	gravelled
past UK	gravelled
Proper noun
plural	Gravels

Plural of gravel: gravels

Origin of gravel

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”).

Words formed from gravel

Phrases with gravel

Words that rhyme with gravel

Questions about gravel

What does gravel mean?: Gravel means small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
What is gravel in Hindi?: Gravel in Hindi is बजरी (bajrī). See Gravel meaning in Hindi.
How do you use gravel in a sentence?: About four weeks after, the horse was brought home, and showed signs of gravel working out above the hoof.
What part of speech is gravel?: Gravel can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce gravel?: Gravel is pronounced /ˈɡɹævəl/.
What is the plural of gravel?: The plural of gravel is gravels.

Words near gravel in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gravel.wav.

Cite this entry: “gravel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gravel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.