All 14 Uses of
grave
in
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- "You say you've had this all your life?" he asked the woman gravely, releasing her hand.†
p. 107.7gravely = in a serious and solemn manner
- "I'd be honored," he said gravely.†
p. 318.5 *
- Paul nodded without speaking, looking at her gravely; her gesture seemed right to him, somehow.†
p. 386.2
- "I suppose," he said gravely, knowing suddenly that he was.†
p. 390.2
Uses with a meaning too common or too rare to warrant foucs:
- Still, he remembered the depth and endurance of his mother's grief, the way she walked uphill to the grave every morning, her arms folded against whatever weather she encountered.†
p. 17.4
- The disorder of the house pressed on her like a weight, as if the very sunlight had taken on substance, gravity.†
p. 45.1
- Grave, Caroline thought, watching Norah's long legs bending, so graceful, kneeling suddenly in the mud.†
p. 68.5 *
- Instead, he went into the gallery room and stood in the moonlight with the wet photo in his hands, looking at his house, darkened now, Paul and Norah inside, dreaming their private dreams, moving in their own orbits, their lives constantly shaped by the gravity of the choice he'd made so many years ago.†
p. 203.9
- His face altered, the shape of it even, as if gravity had suddenly gotten stronger.†
p. 245.1
- Rosemary sat at the table, grave and still.†
p. 272.1
- She had not been to the grave on Bentley's farm for years.†
p. 304.0
- Norah watched him move toward her as if pulled by gravity, Michelle's face lifting at the sight of him.†
p. 334.7
- We visited her grave," he said, remembering his mother walking through the cast-iron gate with her arms full of flowers, telling him to wait in the car.†
p. 382.6
- They followed the path for a while, past the monuments and the pond with the ducks, until he guided her across the grass to the stone that marked their father's grave.†
p. 399.9
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