crater

[ krey-ter ]
See synonyms for crater on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Geology, Astronomy.

    • Also called impact crater; me·te·or·ite cra·ter [mee-tee-uh-rahyt krey-ter] /ˈmi ti əˌraɪt ˌkreɪ tər/ . a large bowl-shaped depression on the surface of the earth or other heavenly body, formed by the impact of a meteorite.: Compare astrobleme.

    • a similar depression or cavity that forms the opening of a volcano or geyser. The volcanic activity that creates such craters occurs on the surface of the earth as well as a number of other heavenly bodies.

  2. the hole or pit in the ground where a bomb, shell, or military mine has exploded.

  1. Electricity. the cavity formed in a positive carbon electrode by an electric arc.

  2. Greek and Roman Antiquity. krater.

  3. Metalworking. a depression at the end of a bead produced by welding.

  4. genitive Cra·te·ris [krey-teer-is]. /kreɪˈtɪər ɪs/. (initial capital letter)Astronomy. the Cup, a small southern constellation west of Corvus and north of Hydra.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make craters in: Bombs had cratered the landscape.

  2. Slang.

    • to cancel, abandon, or cast aside: to crater the new project.

    • to destroy or ruin: One more disappointment won't crater me.

    • to collapse, plunge, or fail suddenly; crash: The company’s stock has cratered 35% this year.

verb (used without object)
  1. to form a crater or craters: The surface of the concrete cratered and cracked under the repeated impacts.

Origin of crater

1
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin crātēr, from Greek krātḗr “mixing bowl,” literally, “mixer”, equivalent to krā- (base of kerannýnai “to mix”) + -tēr agent suffix; cf. crasis

Other words from crater

  • cra·ter·al, cra·ter·ous, adjective
  • cra·ter·like, adjective
  • in·ter·cra·ter, adjective

Other definitions for Crater (2 of 2)

Crater
[ krey-ter ]

noun
  1. Joseph Force [fawrs, fohrs], /fɔrs, foʊrs/, 1889–?, a judge of the New York State Supreme Court: his mysterious disappearance on August 6, 1930, has never been solved.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use crater in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for crater (1 of 2)

crater

/ (ˈkreɪtə) /


noun
  1. the bowl-shaped opening at the top or side of a volcano or top of a geyser through which lava and gases are emitted

  2. a similarly shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or exploding bomb

  1. any of the circular or polygonal walled formations covering the surface of the moon and some other planets, formed probably either by volcanic action or by the impact of meteorites. They can have a diameter of up to 240 kilometres (150 miles) and a depth of 8900 metres (29 000 feet)

  2. a pit in an otherwise smooth surface

  3. a large open bowl with two handles, used for mixing wines, esp in ancient Greece

verb
  1. to make or form craters in (a surface, such as the ground)

  2. slang to fail; collapse; crash

Origin of crater

1
C17: from Latin: mixing bowl, crater, from Greek kratēr, from kerannunai to mix

Derived forms of crater

  • cratered, adjective
  • craterless, adjective
  • crater-like, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Crater (2 of 2)

Crater

/ (ˈkreɪtə) /


nounLatin genitive Crateris (ˈkreɪtərɪs)
  1. a small faint constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Virgo and Hydra

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for crater

crater

[ krātər ]


  1. A bowl-shaped depression at the top of a volcano or at the mouth of a geyser. Volcanic craters can form because of magma explosions in which a large amount of lava is thrown out from a volcano, leaving a hole, or because the roof of rock over an underground magma pool collapses after the magma has flowed away.

  2. A shallow, bowl-shaped depression in a surface, formed by an explosion or by the impact of a body, such as a meteorite.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.