cavern

American  

[kav-ern] / ˈkæv ərn /

noun

1. a cave, especially one that is large and mostly underground.

2. Pathology. a cavity that is produced by disease, especially one produced in the lungs by tuberculosis.

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verb (used with object)

1. to enclose in or as if in a cavern.

2. to hollow out to form a cavern.

cavern British  

/ ˈkævən /

noun

1. a cave, esp when large and formed by underground water, or a large chamber in a cave

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verb

1. to shut in or as if in a cavern

2. to hollow out

cavern Scientific  

/ kăv′ərn /

1. A large cave.

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Etymology

Origin of cavern

1325–75; Middle English caverne < Latin caverna, equivalent to cav ( us ) hollow + -erna, as in cisterna cistern

Example Sentences

The name Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve echoes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a federally owned and managed oil stockpile stored in underground salt caverns at four sites in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Glimourie Tree grows in a cavern, deep in the warmth of the earth; he cut the maze into the rock.

From Literature

Located at the base of a 100-foot water drainage pipe, the sprawling secret cavern also contained a home gym, armchair and television.

From Los Angeles Times

“We are not far now from where the stones lie. Why, they are simply up those cliffs, and through the caverns. But if I am to guide you there, I cannot do so in chains.”

From Literature

Fair enough but he thinks eliminating supposedly inadvertent features of the tax code—those “loopholes” or “caverns”—would work.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cave
• grotto
• pothole