Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: paver, from Latin pavire 'to hit, press down with the foot'

pave

 verb
     
NEW! See related topics: CONSTRUCTIONROADS
pave [transitive usually passive]
1TTRTBC to cover a path, road, area etc with a hard level surface such as blocks of stone or concrete
pave with
The city centre streets are paved with dark local stone.
a paved courtyard
2

pave the way for something

to make a later event or development possible by producing the right conditions:
The Supreme Court decision paved the way for further legislation on civil rights.
3

the streets are paved with gold

used to say that it is easy to become rich quickly in a particular place
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE