Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

greave

noun
\ ˈgrēv \

Definition of greave

: armor for the shin

Examples of greave in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 My favourite application of bronze has always been the cuirass (breastplate), shield, spear, sword and greaves of the Spartan soldiers. — Wei Koh, A-LIST, "How the Watch Industry Plundered the Periodic Table," 3 Apr. 2018 In the hoplitodromia, or race in armor, a field of 25 athletes ran two lengths of the 210-yard-long (192-meter-long) stadium at Olympia wearing bronze greaves and helmets and lugging shields that may have weighed 30 pounds. — Nick Romeo, National Geographic, "Olympic Games We No Longer Play," 4 Aug. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'greave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of greave

14th century, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for greave

Middle English greve, from Anglo-French

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about greave

Statistics for greave

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for greave

The first known use of greave was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

More from Merriam-Webster on greave

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with greave

Comments on greave

What made you want to look up greave? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

emote

to express emotion in a dramatic way

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

What did you just call me?! A Quiz

  • rows-of-various-emoji
  • If a member of the audience describes your speech as bombastic, does that person mean it is:
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games