carve

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
carve/kɑːv/

▶verb

• 1 cut into or shape (a hard material) in order to produce an object or design.

  ■ produce (an object or design) by carving.

• 2 cut (cooked meat) into slices for eating.

• 3 (carve something out) develop a career, reputation, etc. through painstaking effort.

• 4 (carve something up) cut into or divide up something ruthlessly.

  ■ (carve someone up) informal aggressively overtake another driver.

• 5 Skiing make (a turn) by tilting one's skis on to their edges and using one's weight to bend them so that they slide into an arc.

– derivatives
carving noun.

– origin OE ceorfan ‘cut, carve’, of W. Gmc origin.