carve

verb

ˈkärv 

carved; carving

transitive verb

1

: to cut with care or precision

carved fretwork

2

: to make or get by or as if by cutting

—often used with out

carve out a career

3

: to cut into pieces or slices

carved the turkey

intransitive verb

1

: to cut up and serve meat

2

: to work as a sculptor or engraver

carver noun

Synonyms

• sculpt
• sculpture

Examples of carve in a Sentence

We carved an ice sculpture.

Who is going to carve the turkey?

He carved while I made the gravy.

Recent Examples on the Web

Speaking of dunk contests, the No. 87 overall pick, 5-foot-7 Spud Webb, won that 1986 event and carved out a role in the NBA over a 12-year career despite his stature. —Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 25 June 2025

Banda went on a walk in the area, rough terrain carved with steep cliffs and covered with thick forest, and nearly lost her life with a misstep that dropped her hundreds of feet and out of reach for days. —Jose R. Gonzalez, USA Today, 24 June 2025

Market Positioning And Investment In a market increasingly saturated with standard videoconferencing tools, HP aims to carve out a premium segment by addressing the limitations of two-dimensional interactions. —Melody Brue, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025

East Coasters don’t have to go all the way out to Arizona or Colorado to discover a jaw-dropping canyon, carved into the Earth by millions of years of flowing water. —Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 23 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English kerven, from Old English ceorfan; akin to Old High German kerban to notch, Greek graphein to scratch, write

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing carve

• carve up

Rhymes for carve

• starve

Kids Definition

carve

verb

ˈkärv 

carved; carving

1

: to cut with care or exactness

2

: to cut into pieces or slices

3

: to cut up and serve meat

carver noun