gravel

adj 1: made of packed earth or gravel; "a dirt road" [syn: {dirt},

{graveled}]

2: unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound; "a gravelly voice"

[syn: {grating}, {gravelly}, {rasping}, {raspy}, {rough}]

n : rock fragments and pebbles [syn: {crushed rock}]

v 1: cause annoyance in; disturb, esp. by minor irritations:

"Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It

irritates me that she never closes the door after she

leaves" [syn: {annoy}, {rag}, {get to}, {bother}, {get

at}, {irritate}, {rile}, {nark}, {nettle}, {vex}, {devil}]

2: cover with gravel, as of a road

3: be a mystery or bewildering to: "This beats me!" "Got me--I

don't know the answer!" [syn: {perplex}, {get}, {puzzle},

{mystify}, {baffle}, {beat}, {bewilder}, {flummox}, {stupefy},

{stupify}, {nonplus}, {amaze}, {dumbfound}, {trounce}]

grovel

1. To work interminably and without apparent progress. Often

used transitively with "over" or "through". "The file

scavenger has been groveling through the /usr directories for

10 minutes now." Compare {grind} and {crunch}. Emphatic

form: "grovel obscenely".

2. To examine minutely or in complete detail. "The compiler

grovels over the entire source program before beginning to

translate it." "I grovelled through all the documentation,

but I still couldn't find the command I wanted."

[{Jargon File}]