gravel

Etymology

From Middle English gravel, grauel, from Old French gravele, diminutive of grave (“gravel, seashore”), from Medieval Latin grava, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *grāwā (“gravel, pebbles”) (compare Breton groa, Cornish grow, Welsh gro), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroh₁weh₂, from *gʰreh₁w- (“to grind”). Compare also Old English græfa (“coal”).

noun

1. (uncountable) Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.
2. A type or grade of small rocks, differentiated by mineral type, size range, or other characteristics.
3. (uncountable, geology) A particle from 2 to 64 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
4. (uncountable, archaic) Kidney stones; a deposit of small calculous concretions in the kidneys and the urinary or gall bladder; also, the disease of which they are a symptom.
5. A lameness in the foot of a horse, usually caused by an abscess.
   The defendant below hired the horse to go from Cocksackie to Schodack, and the next day after his arrival at the latter place, the horse was found to be lame in one foot; and the lameness increasing, the defendant below was obliged to leave the horse there, and hire another with which to return. About four weeks after, the horse was brought home, and showed signs of gravel working out above the hoof. 1817, William Johnson, editor, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature, E. F. Backus, page 211
   'Looks like pus in the foot to me.' 'I'll bet you're right,' Farnon said. 'They call it gravel around here, by the way. What do you suggest we do about it?' 1972, James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small, St. Martin's Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 22
6. (rare) Inability to see at night; night blindness.
   A malady that was rare, but which because of its peculiarity elicited much comment, was "night blindness" or "gravel." 1943, Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 255
7. (uncountable, cycling) gravel cycling, a discipline in cycling different from road cycling, mountain biking or cyclocross, for a large part on gravel roads, typically with a dedicated gravel bike

verb

1. (transitive) To apply a layer of gravel to the surface of a road, etc.
   We kept quietly on our way until we reached a place in the road that had been freshly graveled, and where the surface was covered with stones just suited to our use. 1905, John F. Hume, The Abolitionists
2. To puzzle or annoy.
   It graveled me like sixty to pay such a price, but I had to do it because the season was just between hay and grass. 1922, Herbert Quick, Vandemark's Folly
3. To run (as a ship) upon the gravel or beach; to run aground; to cause to stick fast in gravel or sand.
   1605, William Camden, “Grave Speeches and wittie Apothegms of worthy Personages of this Realm in former times,” in Remaines Concerning Britain, London: Simon Miller, sixth impression, 1657, p. 243, William Conqerour when he invaded this Iland, chanced at his arrival to be gravelled, and one of his feet stuck so fast in the sand, that he fell to the ground.
4. To check or stop; to confound; to perplex.
   The physician was so gravelled and amazed withal, that he had not a word more to say. 1579, Sir Thomas North, tr., Plutarch's Lives, The Life of Marcus Antonius
   […] I arrived at a spot where I was completely gravelled, and could go no farther one way or the other; […] 1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, “Ch. VIII”, in A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier
5. To hurt or lame (a horse) by gravel lodged between the shoe and foot.