Carving: Cutting Something Away Until a Shape Appears
Carving is shaping wood, stone or ice by cutting material away. It also means slicing cooked meat at the table, which uses the same verb for a very different skill.
Carving is subtractive work: nothing is added, and every cut is final. That is what separates it from modelling, where clay can be pushed back on. A carver has to see the finished shape inside the block before starting.
- Shaping by cutting away. *Stone carving takes years to learn.*
- A carved object. *A wooden carving of a bear.*
- Slicing cooked meat. *He is carving the roast.*
- Cutting a path through something. *Carving through the field.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | carving | An ivory carving. |
| Verb | carve | Carve the joint thinly. |
| Person | carver | A master carver. |
| Compound | carving knife | Sharpen the carving knife. |
| Phrasal | carve out | She carved out a career. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The door is covered in oak carving.Uncountable when it means the work itself.
- Let the meat rest before carving.Resting lets the juices settle.
- He carved out a niche in a crowded market.Carve out means create by effort.
Carving traditions worth knowing
- Relief carving — the figure stays attached to a background
- In the round — free-standing and finished on every side
- Chip carving — small triangular cuts making a geometric pattern
- Whittling — carving with a knife alone, usually small and portable
- Ice carving — fast work against melting, chainsaw and chisel together
From Old English *ceorfan*, to cut. The word is far older than the art vocabulary built on top of it, and it has kept its plain sense of cutting throughout — whether the material is limestone or a Sunday roast.
Carving or sculpture?
Carving is one method of sculpture. Casting and modelling are others, and they add material rather than remove it.
What does carve up mean?
Divide something between parties, often unfairly — a territory, an estate or a market.