carve / kärv/ • v. [tr.] 1. (often be carved) cut (a hard material) in order to produce an aesthetically pleasing object or design: the wood was carved with runes. ∎  produce (an object) by cutting and shaping a hard material: the altar was carved from a block of solid jade. ∎  produce (an inscription or design) by cutting into hard material: an inscription was carved over the doorway | fig. the river carved a series of gorges into the plain. 2. cut (cooked meat) into slices for eating. ∎  cut (a slice of meat) from a larger piece.3. Skiing make (a turn) by tilting one's skis on to their edges and using one's weight to bend them so that they slide into an arc.PHRASAL VERBS: carve something out1. take something from a larger whole, esp. with difficulty: carving out a 5 percent share of the overall vote.2. establish or create something through painstaking effort: he managed to carve out a successful photographic career for himself.carve something up divide something ruthlessly into separate areas or domains: West Africa was carved up by the Europeans.

carve †cut; cut artistically or ornamentally OE; cut up meat at table XIII. OE. ċeorfan str. vb. = (M)Du. kerven, MHG. kerben :- WGmc. *kerfan. The weak conj. is found as early as XV. The normal repr. of OE. ċeorfan would be *charve, but initial k had established itself by c. 1200 in the pres. stem through the infl. of other parts of the vb. or of the Scand. forms.