All 3 Uses of
grave
in
A Thousand Acres
- Mr. Cartier introduced himself to each of us individually, making eye contact and smiling gravely.†
p. 281.7 *gravely = in a serious and solemn manner
- She had no interest in the farm equipment—gravity wagons filled with grain, augers, tractors, cornpickers, trucks.†
p. 63.7
- I could push past him, give him toast and cereal and bacon, a breakfast without a center of gravity, or I could run home and get the eggs.†
p. 114.8
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 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