From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgravelgrav‧el /ˈɡrævəl/ ●●○ noun [uncountable] DTTRsmall stones, used to make a surface for paths, roads etc a gravel pathgravel pit (=a place where gravel is dug out of the ground)
Examples from the Corpus
gravel• Leased a gravel lot for $ 15 a month and sold used cars.• a gravel driveway• A gravel substrate will also help, using a fine grade to avoid the fry getting stuck.• The path around the pavilion, which had been mud only weeks before, was now crunchy gravel.• It grows successfully in silty gravel or a rich mixture of clay or peat with sand or gravel.• Allow for an inch or so of small gravel underneath to help drain moisture from under the block.• Every major site needs a constant supply of this slurry of cement, stones, gravel, and water.• We set off again along the gravel paths.• His voice sounded like chains being dragged through gravel.gravel pit• a gravel pit• A gravel pit search by divers was put off yesterday as experts continued checking the area.• Around Chichester there is an area of gravel and gravel pits of considerable economic importance.• Not simply on Tring Reservoirs or the home counties gravel pits do men now sit for a ten pounder anymore.• Some men pinched all the wages at the gravel pit.• Hand carts and horsedrawn carts wait to carry away building supplies brought from the gravel pits of Middlesex.• The money he had stolen from the gravel pits reposed under his bunk in the houseboat.• He crossed the road and went into the gravel pit.• Wet gravel pits are generally recognised as important habitats for wildlife, particularly in view of the increasing drainage of wetlands.Origin gravel (1200-1300) Old French grave “stony ground” 