to carve out a niche
1
6.0
- phrasal verb
:
crear un nicho
- The two made a formidable team as they carved out a niche at the intersection of Tampa's social elite and MacDill's military brass.
But you know what, the number one thing in, in all of our sports or careers or whatever is carving out a niche.
- But you know what, the number one thing in, in all of our sports or careers or whatever is carving out a niche.
Examples
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But you gotta admire a man who carves out a niche market for himself.
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After several years of hard work, she successfully carved out a niche in the market for eco-friendly products.
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One program carved out a niche in the distance-learning option.
Academic text (2004) -
Apple has carved out a niche for itself and has a secure market base (for now at any rate).
Blog text (33) -
The lab has carved out a niche in the increasingly crowded world of digital humanities.
Academic text (2016) -
The Latino community has come to America and carved out a niche by outworking everyone else...
Blog text (7) -
It was typical for young chemical engineers at the time to carve out a niche in the private sector.
Blog text (34) -
There's a chance that actually you'll be able to carve out a niche for yourself.
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Starwood Property Trust (STWD) has carved out a niche in the heart of commercial real estate lending.
Blog text (19) -
Many advisers dream of carving out a niche that will lead to million-dollar clients and an abundance of referrals.
Blog text (20)
Synonyms
23
4.6
Make a place for yourself in a job or field by working hard
Antonyms
How Specialized
1
6.0
396
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb phrase 'carve out' uses the literal idea of cutting away to create space combined with 'niche' (a specialized role), so the overall sense of creating or establishing a small, specialized place follows a clear metaphorical mapping. However, this is a metaphorical extension rather than strictly compositional, so a B1 learner who knows the parts can often guess the meaning but may not fully predict the conventional sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
Carve out a niche may come from the image of someone using a tool to carve a small shelf or hole, a niche, in stone or wood to hold a statue. Making that small, special space is like creating a unique job or market for yourself, so it means 'to create and set up a special role or place'.