All 21 Uses of
grave
in
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- The teacher, a grave, elderly man, interfered; then turned his back a moment and Tom pulled a boy's hair in the next bench, and was absorbed in his book when the boy turned around; stuck a pin in another boy, presently, in order to hear him say "Ouch!" and got a new reprimand from his teacher.
Chpt 4grave = serious and solemn
- The discourse was resumed presently, but it went lame and halting, all possibility of impressiveness being at an end; for even the gravest sentiments were constantly being received with a smothered burst of unholy mirth, under cover of some remote pew-back, as if the poor parson had said a rarely facetious thing.†
Chpt 5gravest = most important or most serious
- They took their lath swords, dumped their other traps on the ground, struck a fencing attitude, foot to foot, and began a grave, careful combat, "two up and two down."
Chpt 8 *grave = serious and solemn
- "It's a bad sign," said Aunt Polly, gravely.†
Chpt 11gravely = in a serious and solemn manner
- The Welshman eyed him gravely, curiously—and presently said: "Yes, burglar's tools.†
Chpt 30
Uses with a meaning too common or too rare to warrant foucs:
- It seemed to him that life was but a trouble, at best, and he more than half envied Jimmy Hodges, so lately released; it must be very peaceful, he thought, to lie and slumber and dream forever and ever, with the wind whispering through the trees and caressing the grass and the flowers over the grave, and nothing to bother and grieve about, ever any more.†
Chpt 8
- They found the sharp new heap they were seeking, and ensconced themselves within the protection of three great elms that grew in a bunch within a few feet of the grave.†
Chpt 9
- The whisper died wholly out, now, for the three men had reached the grave and stood within a few feet of the boys' hiding-place.†
Chpt 9
- They cast down their load and began to open the grave.†
Chpt 9
- The doctor put the lantern at the head of the grave and came and sat down with his back against one of the elm trees.†
Chpt 9 *
- All at once the doctor flung himself free, seized the heavy headboard of Williams' grave and felled Potter to the earth with it—and in the same instant the half-breed saw his chance and drove the knife to the hilt in the young man's breast.†
Chpt 9
- Two or three minutes later the murdered man, the blanketed corpse, the lidless coffin, and the open grave were under no inspection but the moon's.†
Chpt 9
- His aunt wept over him and asked him how he could go and break her old heart so; and finally told him to go on, and ruin himself and bring her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, for it was no use for her to try any more.†
Chpt 10
- This ought to be a lesson to grave robbers!†
Chpt 11
- He had been careful to begin both of his inquest-statements with the fight, without confessing the grave-robbery that preceded it; therefore it was deemed wisest not to try the case in the courts at present.†
Chpt 11
- Tom looked up in her face with just a perceptible twinkle peeping through his gravity.†
Chpt 12
- The other boys agreed that there was reason in what Tom said, because an ignorant lump of bread, uninstructed by an incantation, could not be expected to act very intelligently when set upon an errand of such gravity.†
Chpt 14
- Becky resumed her picture inspections with Alfred, but as the minutes dragged along and no Tom came to suffer, her triumph began to cloud and she lost interest; gravity and absent-mindedness followed, and then melancholy; two or three times she pricked up her ear at a footstep, but it was a false hope; no Tom came.†
Chpt 18
- Were you anywhere near Horse Williams' grave?†
Chpt 23
- Behind the elms that's on the edge of the grave.†
Chpt 23
- Every "haunted" house in St. Petersburg and the neighboring villages was dissected, plank by plank, and its foundations dug up and ransacked for hidden treasure—and not by boys, but men—pretty grave, unromantic men, too, some of them.†
Chpt 35
Definitions:
-
(1)
(grave as in: Her manner was grave.) serious and/or solemnThe exact meaning of this sense of grave can depend upon its context. For example:
- "This is a grave problem," or "a situation of the utmost gravity." -- important, dangerous, or causing worry
- "She was in a grave mood upon returning from the funeral." -- sad or solemn
- "She looked me in the eye and gravely promised." -- in a sincere and serious manner
-
(2)
(meaning too common or rare to warrant focus) meaning too common or too rare to warrant focus:
Better known meanings of grave and gravity:Less common meanings of grave:- grave -- a place where a dead body is buried
- gravity -- in the sense of physics to refer to the force of attraction between all masses in the universe--especially the force that causes things to fall toward the earth
- death -- as in "A message from beyond the grave."
- describing a color as dark
- to sculpt with a chisel
- to clean and coat the bottom of a wooden ship with pitch
- grave accent -- a punctuation mark (`) that is used in some non-English languages, and that is placed over some letters of the alphabet to tell how they are pronounced.
- grave musical direction -- in a slow and solemn manner