in a general sense, the art or act of cutting or fashioning a hard body, by means of some sharp instrument, especially a chisel. In this sense carving includes statuary and engraving, as well as cutting in wood.

a more particular sense, is the art of engraving or cutting figures in wood. In this sense carving, according to Pliny, is prior both to statuary and painting.

To carve a figure or design, it must be first drawn or pasted on the wood; which done, the rest of the block, not covered by the lines of the design, are to be cut away with little narrow-pointed knives. The wood fitted for the use is that which is hard, tough, and close, as beech, but especially box: to prepare it for drawing the design on, they wash it over with white-lead tempered in water; which better enables it either to bear ink or the crayon, or even to take the impression by chalking. When the design is to be pasted on the wood, this whitening is omitted, and they content themselves with seeing the wood well planed. Then wiping over the printed side of the figure with gum tragacanth dissolved in water, they clap it smooth on the wood, and let it dry; which done, they wet it slightly over, and fret off the surface of the paper gently, till all the strokes of the figure appear distinctly. This done, they fall to cutting or carving, as above.