Definition of "greave"

greave¹

/ɡɹiːv/

noun
plural greaves
1. (obsolete) A bush; a tree; a grove.
  Quotations
  she fled into that covert greave
  1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
2. (obsolete) A bough; a branch.

greave²

/ɡɹiːv/

noun
plural greaves
1. (obsolete) A ditch or trench.

greave³

/ɡɹiːv/

noun
plural greaves
1. A piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin, and occasionally the tops of the feet.

greave⁴

/ɡɹiːv/

verb
third-person singular simple present greaves, present participle greaving, simple past and past participle greaved
1. (nautical, transitive) To clean (a ship's bottom); to grave.