🎃 To shape by cutting 🍗 To slice meat 💾 To recover data

to carve

205 2.1

Cut shapes and patterns into wood, stone and other hard materials

verb
/kɑrv/

: tallar

The town itself was a collection of buildings carved from the black rock, fronting a single street.
carved from wood
a carved wooden object
a carved mask

I was able to carve Rodan's The Thinker.

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Examples

In the woods outside, she carved our initials in the trees.

Shelby Oaks (2025)
The grand prize was a lifesize sculpture of the winner, carved out of butter.

Academic text (2011)
So I would like to carve a channel in it like that.
And but his approach was to carve a very precise model.
One player will carve any number of crosses into the table.
And now it's time to carve out the lid.
It's all just been carved out of this rock.
He's also been helping me carve wood for the church.

WWJD II: The Woodcarver (2012)
Bishop St. James sat in the great carved stone Glastonbury Cathedral, "the bishop's chair."

Fiction book (1990)
She will carve beautiful designs into the wooden surface of the table.

Synonyms

to scratch

vsto carve

100 1.1

To cut or mark a surface by scraping it with something sharp

is deeper shaping or forming of material by cutting, not light surface marks

to sculpt

vsto carve

74 4.3

To make a statue from stone, wood, or clay by cutting and shaping it

is the general act of cutting into material to shape or form objects

to whittle

vsto carve

35 6.2

To cut small pieces from wood with a knife

is broader shaping or cutting of many materials, not only small shaving work

to inscribe

vsto carve

31 5.3

Put words on something like a book or monument so they last

is about cutting into material to shape or form, not only making marks

to engrave

vsto carve

30 5.2

To cut words and pictures into a hard surface like metal or wood

is broader cutting and shaping of material, not only precise decorative cuts

to etch

vsto carve

26 5.5

To cut a design into metal or glass with a sharp tool

covers any cutting into material to form or shape, not only those methods

to chisel

vsto carve

12 5.1

To shape wood or stone using a flat metal blade

is any cutting or shaping action, not tied to a single tool or method

to chase

vsto carve

Specialized

1 9.1

To cut a narrow groove into a wall or other surface

is general cutting into material to form shapes rather than specific grooves

to etch a design

vsto carve

1 6.5

To cut a pattern into glass, metal, or wood

is general shaping by cutting into material, not limited to pattern methods

to sculpture

vsto carve

1 4.6

To make a figure by carving stone or wood

is the action of cutting into material to shape or form objects rather than the object

to grave

vsto carve

Archaic

1 7.7

To cut letters or a design into a hard surface

focuses on shaping or forming material by cutting beyond just marking

Phrasal Verbs

to carve out

55 4.6

Make a place for yourself in a job or field by working hard

to carve up

23 5.8

To divide something into parts to share between people

to carve out a niche

2 6.0

To create a special area of work or market for yourself

to carve a path

2 4.2

To make a way through something, physically or by creating new opportunities

to carve a totem

1 8.4

Make a wooden statue that shows cultural or spiritual beliefs to honor tradition

How Detailed

to sculpt

74 4.3

to engrave

30 5.2

to carve

205 2.1

to cut

∞ 1.0

to chip

86 2.3

to scratch

100 1.1

Surface Forms

carve infinitive

carved past

carved past participle

carving present participle

carves third person singular

Etymology

Carve comes from the old English word ceorfan, which meant 'to cut'. Think of a sculptor cutting away wood or stone to make a shape, so carve means to shape something by cutting it.