Meaning & use
eaves
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Meaning
nounplural
The lower edge of a roof, which sticks out past the wall so that rain drips clear of the building.
Grammar: Always plural in form, even for one roof: the eaves are damaged.
Patterns
- under the eaves
- along the eaves
Swallows built their nests under the eaves of the barn.
Icicles hung from the eaves all winter.
The house has wide eaves that shade the windows in summer.
Common combinations
- under the eaves
- We sheltered under the eaves until the rain eased.
- the eaves of the house
- Wasps had made a nest in the eaves of the house.
- deep eaves
- The cottage has deep eaves that keep the walls dry.
- clean the eaves
- He climbed a ladder to clean the eaves.
- a bird nesting in the eaves
- A sparrow was nesting in the eaves.
Synonyms and how they differ
- overhang
- Overhang is a general word for anything sticking out, whereas eaves names the roof edge specifically.
- roof edge
- Roof edge is a plain description that does not stress the projecting part the way eaves does.
- cornice
- A cornice is a decorative molding at the top of a wall, which can sit beneath eaves.
Word family
- eavesdrop verb
- to listen secretly, originally by standing under the eaves
- eavesdropper noun
- a person who listens in secret
- eavestrough noun
- a rain gutter along the eaves, used in Canada and some US regions
Commonly confused: eaves or eves? eaves or eve?
eaves vs eves
Eves means the evenings or days before an event, as in Christmas Eve, and is not the roof edge.
eaves vs eve
Eve is the evening before a special day, whereas eaves is always about a roof.
Practice
Rain dripped steadily from the ___ of the old cottage.
Choose one answer.
Eaves is the correct spelling for the overhanging roof edge. Eves is a different word meaning evenings before events, and the other options are not words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “eaves”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.