# gravel

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɹævəl/ · frequency rank #11,223

## Definitions
1. 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. A particle from 2 to 64 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
4. 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.
6. Inability to see at night; night blindness.
7. 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.
8. The stimulant drug alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **grove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-grove)
- **gravy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-gravy)
- **graze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-graze)
- **graves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-graves)
- **groves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-groves)
- **Grover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-grover)
- **grazed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-grazed)
- **gravely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-gravely)
- **greaves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-greaves)
- **gravelly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gravel-vs-gravelly)
- **gave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gave-vs-gravel)
- **Gael** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gael-vs-gravel)
- **grade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grade-vs-gravel)
- **grace** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grace-vs-gravel)
- **grave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grave-vs-gravel)
- **grape** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grape-vs-gravel)
- **grail** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grail-vs-gravel)
- **grate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grate-vs-gravel)
- **gavel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gavel-vs-gravel)
- **grades** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grades-vs-gravel)

## Common misspellings (9)
`garvel`, `ggravel`, `graevl`, `gravell`, `gravle`, `gravvel`, `grravel`, `grvael`, `rgavel`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gravel