drive (someone) to an early grave

: to frighten or prod (game, cattle, etc.) into moving in a desired direction

: to go through (an area) driving game animals

: to carry on or through energetically

: an act of driving:

: a trip in a carriage or automobile

: an instance of collecting and moving animals (such as game or cattle) together in a desired direction

: some person : somebody

: near the beginning of a period of time

: near the beginning of a course, process, or series

: before the usual or expected time

: of, relating to, or occurring near the beginning of a period of time, a development, or a series

: distant in past time

: primitive

: dig, excavate

: to carve or shape with a chisel : sculpture

: to carve or cut (something, such as letters or figures) into a hard surface : engrave

: an excavation (see excavation 2) for burial of a body

: death

: death

: to clean and pay with pitch

: authoritative, weighty

: meriting serious consideration : important

: likely to produce great harm or danger

: a grave accent ` used to show that a vowel is pronounced with a fall of pitch (as in ancient Greek), that a vowel has a certain quality (such as è in French), that a final e is stressed and close and that a final o is stressed and low (as in Italian), that a syllable has a degree of stress between maximum and minimum (as in phonetic transcription), or that the e of the English ending -ed is to be pronounced (as in "this cursèd day")

: slowly and solemnly