gravelly en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈɡɹævəli/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English gravelli (“covered with gravel or sand; (pathology) containing sand-like matter”), from gravel (“sand; grain of stand; gravel, pebbles; (pathology) sand-like matter in the urine, calculus”) + -lī (suffix forming adjectives). Gravel is derived from Old French gravel, gravele, gravelle (“gravel; (pathology) calculus”) (modern French gravelle (“(pathology) calculus”)), from grave (“coarse sand, gravel; seashore”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁w- (“to grind”); modern French grève (“riverbank; shore, strand”)) + -ele (diminutive suffix). The English word is analysable as gravel + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).
Meanings
-
Full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles.
The dung which men make […] is greatly miſlyked, for that by nature it is hoter and burneth the ſeedes ſowne in that earth: ſo that this is not to bee uſed, unleſſe the ground be a barren, grauelly or verie louſe ſand, lacking ſtrength in it, which being on ſuche wiſe, requyreth the more helpe of nouriſhment and fatning, through this kinde of dung: […]
1577, Dydymus Mountaine [pseudonym; Thomas Hill], Henry Dethicke [i.e., Henry Dethick], “Of the Kindes of Dung, and which Well Commended for the Dunging of Gardens”, in The Gardeners Labyrinth: […], London: […] Henry Bynneman, →OCLC, page 19:This earth, however, is not to be ſuppoſed entirely pure, but is mixed with much ſtony and gravelly matter, from the layers lying immediately beneath it. It generally happens, that the ſoil is fertile in proportion to the quantity that this putrified mold bears to the gravelly mixture; and as the former predominates, ſo far is the vegetation upon it more luxuriant.
1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Internal Structure of the Earth”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume I, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, page 49:
-
Of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping.
[…] currently incarcerated Stinc Team members Ketchy the Great, SaySoTheMac, and Bambino; the devilish and gravelly Almighty Suspect; red-clad Inglewooder and headband connoisseur FreeAckrite; baby-faced Martin Luther King Park loiterer Johnny Rose; […]
2019 February 5, Torii MacAdams, “The New Generation of LA Rap Is Changing Everything”, in VICE:
- Caused by or involving gravel (“kidney stones”).
-
(obsolete) Full of or covered with sand; sandy.
As the goeing vp a grauelie way in the feete of the aged, ſo a woman ful of tongue to a quiet man.
1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiasticus 25:27, page 410:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most gravelly | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| gravely | alternative | lexicographic | |
| more gravelly | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
Gravelly Hill · gravelliness · ungravelly
Relateds
graveller · graveler · graveling · gravel walk · gravel · gravelled · graveled · gravel pit · gravel-walk · gravelling
Synonyms
gravelish · gravelous · gravelish · gravelous
Translations (28)
fr râpeux (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · mga gríanach (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · la glāreōsus (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · es áspero (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · gl rouco (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · mk чакалест (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · la sabulōsus (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · hu kavicsos (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · fr rocailleux (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · ka ხრეშიანი (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · es rasposo (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · ceb grabahon (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · it ghiaroso (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · bg чакълест (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · ar خَشِن (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · de harsch (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · de kieselig (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · gl cascallento (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · gl cavernoso (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · es cascajoso (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · fi sorainen (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · bg дрезгав (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · it ghiaioso (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · ja 塩っぱい (of a voice: unpleasantly harsh or rasping) · rup chitros (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · it breccioso (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · de kiesig (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles) · fr graveleux (full of, covered with, or similar to gravel or pebbles)