cache

American  

[kash] / kæʃ /

noun

1. a hiding place, especially one in the ground, for ammunition, food, treasures, etc..

   She hid her jewelry in a little cache in the cellar.

2. anything so hidden.

   The enemy never found our cache of food.

   Synonyms:

   store, reserve, stockpile, hoard

3. Also called cache storage.  Computers. a temporary storage space or memory that allows fast access to data.

   Web browser cache;

   CPU cache.

4. Alaska and Northern Canada. a small shed elevated on poles above the reach of animals and used for storing food, equipment, etc.

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verb (used with object)

cached, caching

1. to put in a cache; conceal; hide.

   Synonyms:

   secrete

cache British  

/ kæʃ /

noun

1. a hidden store of provisions, weapons, treasure, etc

2. the place where such a store is hidden

3. computing a small high-speed memory that improves computer performance

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verb

1. (tr) to store in a cache

cache Scientific  

/ kăsh /

1. An area of computer memory devoted to the high-speed retrieval of frequently used or requested data.

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Etymology

Origin of cache

First recorded in 1585–95; from French, noun derivative of cacher “to hide,” from unattested Vulgar Latin coācticāre “to stow away,” originally, “to pack together,” frequentative of Latin coāctāre, equivalent to Latin coāct(us) “collected” (past participle of cōgere “to collect, compel”) + -icā- formative verb suffix + -re infinitive ending

Explanation

Cache sounds like what it is, a stash, and sometimes people — usually the criminal type — have a cache of stolen cash. Often the phrase "weapons cache" is used of a bunch of hidden guns or weapons that have been hidden or stored away, which is logical, given that the French verb cacher means "to hide." Sometimes things aren’t really hidden but are stored away out of sight for use later. Computers even cache data and directories to retrieve when needed. So a cache is anything from a stash of cash to a store of information on reserve.

Example Sentences

Despite garnering an Oscar nomination for Streep and an ingenious bit at that year’s ceremony, “The Devil Wears Prada” didn’t have the immediate cultural cache of something like its equally memeable predecessor, “Mean Girls.”

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026

DeepSeek started life in 2023 as a side project of a hedge fund that had access to a cache of powerful Nvidia processors.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

TurboQuant compresses the KV cache — the temporary memory storing mid-conversation computations.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

Once Attia’s name showed up in the cache of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice earlier this month, it seemed as though cutting him loose would be a no-brainer for the news division.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

I opened the rat-proof metal box where I kept my food cache and took out some bottled water and a packet of powdered milk.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Related Words

• hideout
• hoard
• nest egg
• repository
• stash
• stockpile
• storehouse
• treasure
• wealth