cabin
Americannoun
-
cabins
plural
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a small house or cottage, usually of simple design and construction.
He was born in a cabin built of rough logs.
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an enclosed space for more or less temporary occupancy, as the living quarters in a trailer or the passenger space in a cable car.
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the enclosed space for the pilot, cargo, or especially passengers in an air or space vehicle.
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an apartment or room in a ship, as for passengers.
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(in a naval vessel) living accommodations for officers.
- Synonyms:
- compartment
adverb
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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a small simple dwelling; hut
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a simple house providing accommodation for travellers or holiday-makers at a motel or holiday camp
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a room used as an office or living quarters in a ship
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a covered compartment used for shelter or living quarters in a small boat
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(in a warship) the compartment or room reserved for the commanding officer
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another name for signal box
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the enclosed part of a light aircraft in which the pilot and passengers sit
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the part of an airliner in which the passengers are carried
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the section of an aircraft used for cargo
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verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cabin
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English cabane, from Middle French, from Old Provençal cabana, from Late Latin capanna, of uncertain, perhaps pre-Latin origin; spelling with “i” perhaps by influence of French cabine ( see cabinet)
Explanation
A small wooden hut or cottage can be called a cabin, especially if it's in a remote or wooded place. Your grandfather's cabin on a lake might be your favorite place to visit in the summer. You might dream of living in a cabin deep in the forest, or on the edge of a mountain. Another kind of cabin is a small compartment or room, particularly one on a ship or an airplane. If you have "cabin fever," it means you're restless and cranky after being stuck in a small space for too long. The word comes from a Late Latin root, capanna, "hut."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
American Airlines plans to install seat-back screens at every seat as part of a cabin overhaul on its narrow-body planes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
American Airlines says the upgrades form part of a wider cabin investment announced this week.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Unions said about half of the company's 900 French-based cabin crew would join the strike, which would affect about half of the flights out of two Paris airports, Nice, Bordeaux and Lyon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
In 2021, Mariah O’Brien Interiors and Mind Tree Arts added an 875-square-foot extension space where a cabin was built.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Maybe there were people in the cabin, and hot cocoa to drink.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
"The whole ship was a sweat box," he said, with some passengers in cabins that had no windows resorting to sleeping on the ship's roof.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The VC-25A was designed as a flying White House, with conference rooms and dedicated cabins for the staff and the press.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The 36-acre spread includes a 5,149-square-foot main house, several cabins, a pool, and a backyard with views of the Pedernales River.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
She’s spent time in the Adirondacks with the wealthy families who vacation in bare-basics cabins on the land they own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Tucked in the middle of the forest are three training gyms, a dance studio, medical facilities, dining and recreational spaces, and cabins that can sleep up to three hundred athletes and coaches at a time.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
