cradle

American  

[kreyd-l] / ˈkreɪd l /

noun

• cradles
  plural

1. a small bed for an infant, usually on rockers.

2. any of various supports for objects set horizontally, as the support for the handset of a telephone.

3. the place where anything is nurtured during its early existence.

   Boston was the cradle of the American Revolution.

   Synonyms:

   wellspring, font, fountain, birthplace

4. Agriculture.

   1. a frame of wood with a row of long curved teeth projecting above and parallel to a scythe, for laying grain in bunches as it is cut.

   2. a scythe together with the cradle in which it is set.

5. a wire or wicker basket used to hold a wine bottle in a more or less horizontal position while the wine is being served.

6. Artillery. the part of a gun carriage on which a recoiling gun slides.

7. a landing platform for ferryboats, rolling on inclined tracks to facilitate loading and unloading at different water levels.

8. Aeronautics. a docklike structure in which a rigid or semirigid airship is built or is supported during inflation.

9. Automotive. creeper.

10. Nautical.

    1. a shaped support for a boat, cast, etc.; chock.

    2. truss.

11. Shipbuilding.

    1. a moving framework on which a hull slides down the ways when launched.

    2. a built-up form on which plates of irregular form are shaped.

12. Medicine/Medical. a frame that prevents the bedclothes from touching an injured part of a bedridden patient.

13. Mining. a box on rockers for washing sand or gravel to separate gold or other heavy metal.

14. an engraver's tool for laying mezzotint grounds.

15. Painting. a structure of wooden strips attached to the back of a panel, used as a support and to prevent warping.

---

verb (used with object)

• cradles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cradled,
  past participle,  past
• cradling
  present participle

1. to hold gently or protectively.

2. to place or rock in or as in an infant's cradle.

3. to nurture during infancy.

4. to receive or hold as a cradle.

5. to cut (grain) with a cradle.

6. to place (a vessel) on a cradle.

7. Mining. to wash (sand or gravel) in a cradle; rock.

8. Painting. to support (a panel) with a cradle.

verb (used without object)

• cradles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cradled,
  past participle,  past
• cradling
  present participle

1. to lie in or as if in a cradle.

2. to cut grain with a cradle scythe.

idioms

1. rob the cradle, to marry, court, or date a person much younger than oneself.

cradle British  

/ ˈkreɪdəl /

noun

1. a baby's bed with enclosed sides, often with a hood and rockers

2. a place where something originates or is nurtured during its early life

   the cradle of civilization

3. the earliest period of life

   they knew each other from the cradle

4. a frame, rest, or trolley made to support or transport a piece of equipment, aircraft, ship, etc

5. a platform, cage, or trolley, in which workmen are suspended on the side of a building or ship

6. the part of a telephone on which the handset rests when not in use

7. a holder connected to a computer allowing data to be transferred from a PDA, digital camera, etc

8. another name for creeper

9. agriculture

   1. a framework of several wooden fingers attached to a scythe to gather the grain into bunches as it is cut

   2. a scythe equipped with such a cradle; cradle scythe

   3. a collar of wooden fingers that prevents a horse or cow from turning its head and biting itself

10. Also called: rocker.  a boxlike apparatus for washing rocks, sand, etc, containing gold or gem stones

11. engraving a tool that produces the pitted surface of a copper mezzotint plate before the design is engraved upon it

12. a framework used to prevent the bedclothes from touching a sensitive part of an injured person

13. throughout life

---

verb

1. (tr) to rock or place in or as if in a cradle; hold tenderly

2. (tr) to nurture in or bring up from infancy

3. (tr) to replace (the handset of a telephone) on the cradle

4. to reap (grain) with a cradle scythe

5. (tr) to wash (soil bearing gold, etc) in a cradle

6. lacrosse to keep (the ball) in the net of the stick, esp while running with it

cradle More Idioms  

1. see from the cradle to the grave; rob the cradle.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cradler
  noun
• uncradled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cradles
  plural

Participles

• cradling
  present
• cradled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cradle
  simple
• cradles
  simple
• have cradled
  perfect
• has cradled
  perfect
• am cradling
  progressive
• are cradling
  progressive
• is cradling
  progressive
• have been cradling
  perfect progressive
• has been cradling
  perfect progressive

Past

• cradled
  simple
• had cradled
  perfect
• was cradling
  progressive
• were cradling
  progressive
• had been cradling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cradle
  simple
• will have cradled
  perfect
• will be cradling
  progressive
• will have been cradling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cradle

before 1000; Middle English cradel, Old English cradol; akin to Old High German cratto basket

Explanation

To cradle is to hold delicately and gently, like how you would hold an infant. A cradle is the tiny bed with rockers that the infant sleeps in. The word cradle comes to us from the Old English word cradol, which meant "little bed or cot." And while it is important to cradle a baby's head when you pick them up out of their cradle, this word isn't all baby talk. Ever heard of ancient Greece? Otherwise known as "the cradle of democracy?" That's because the noun version of cradle can be used to poetically describe the birthplace of a movement or the area where an early idea was nurtured.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cradle cradles cradled cradling

Argentine from cradle to grave, for the Falklands, for Diego, for Leo's last outing.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

The goal was to show clients that JPMorgan thinks about covering its clients from cradle to grave, rather than just for opportunistic transactions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

“We want to look at the full life cycle … not only thinking from the cradle to the grave, but from the point where the raw materials are extracted at the beginning,” Stanton says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

The building features giant stone letters on the top spelling out part of a speech that Obama gave in 2015 in Selma, Alabama, the cradle of the civil rights movement.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

He returned, his eyes half closed even as he spoke, leaning on a carved crutch that curved under his arm like a smooth cradle.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

“I was my mother’s only daughter,” Ms. Phillips notes, “the one who would inherit the dishes, the cradles, the women’s things, and the stories.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

In Greenford, west London, Sir David gently cradles a tiny harvest mouse before releasing it into a meadow.

From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025

Shipyards in both ports sent their new vessels from their cradles out into the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025

This caped crusader effortlessly cradles a colossal Bible in the crook of his left arm.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025

In his fist he cradles a derringer, the sort of pint-size pistol favored by ladies and cardsharps.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

After returning from her final visit to Saudi Arabia, Korkejian wrote album opener “On My Own” — a piano ballad cradled by a quivering Mellotron as a full band gradually gathers around her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

As the vessel neared the island—and Rhodes lost her ball cap in the wind—an app on the laptop she cradled lit up with digital WhaleSpotter images of whales exhaling, called “blows.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

"He really has such an endearing personality," she told AFP earlier this week as she cradled him at her home in the southeastern town of Villy-le-Pelloux.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

British actress Wunmi Mosaku, nominated for best supporting actress for Sinners, cradled her baby bump in a glittering gown with a cut-out shoulder.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

Her hands cradled it as if handling Einstein’s original paper on special relativity.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

“Turn a little bit sideways!” a photographer requested, and Hathaway laughed and complied, cradling her stomach proudly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

"She is wheezing," Markos tells the nurse in the video, cradling the poorly chicken with a worried expression on his face.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

Martin, the author of the Game of Thrones books, cradling a fluffy wolf-like pup in his arms.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

They focus on motherhood and love, with rounded forms cradling one another and calling to mind the work of Henry Moore.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

I kneeled in front of it, still cradling Ayanna, and looked at High John.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

• crib