cave-in
noun
a collapse, as of anything hollow.
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cave-in
American
[keyv-in]
/ ˈkeɪvˌɪn /
noun
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a collapse, as of anything hollow.
the worst cave-in in the history of mining.
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a place or site of such a collapse.
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submission to something or someone previously opposed or resisted.
His cave-in to such unreasonable demands shocked us.
cave in
British
verb
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to collapse; subside
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informal to yield completely, esp under pressure
noun
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the sudden collapse of a roof, piece of ground, etc, into a hollow beneath it; subsidence
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the site of such a collapse, as at a mine or tunnel
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informal an instance of yielding completely, esp under pressure
cave in
Idioms
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Fall in, collapse, as in The earthquake made the walls cave in . [Early 1700s]
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Give in, admit defeat, as in The prosecutor's questions soon made the witness cave in . [Early 1800s]
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Collapse, faint, or die from exhaustion, as in After a twenty-mile hike I caved in . [Mid-1800s]
Etymology
Origin of cave-in
First recorded in 1700–10; noun use of verb phrase cave in
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:
The shoddy construction, Slepcevic said, made it difficult for rescuers trying to access tight spaces filled with debris, the danger of a cave-in ever present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
And they do not suggest massive subsidence or a cave-in of the mountain.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2025
However, according to a Newsweek article that comprehensively details the changes, it appears more likely that rights issues from Fox 5 in Atlanta were the issue, not a political cave-in.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
Short of a complete cave-in between now and the Aug. 1 trade deadline, the Angels can’t trade Ohtani.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2023
He found no sign of a cave-in, but there were no lights.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
Mr. Huling describes a cave in Florida that was walloped by a powerful, once-in-a-century hurricane, drowning almost all of the 4 million bats inside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The series of 10 red horizontal stripes was first found on the wall of a side chamber of Bacon Hole cave in Gower, Swansea, in 1912, before being dismissed years later as a natural phenomenon.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Blasted into 1.9 billion-year-old stable bedrock in Eurajoki, southwest Finland, the geological repository for spent nuclear waste -- dubbed Onkalo which means "cave" in Finnish -- is nearly ready to start operations.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Then the stage lit up to show a carved-out cave in a cliffside, housing an absolutely killer all-femme backing band in the grotto and a full company of dancers in every hue of the Americas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
Nim yelled—so loud and so often that Fred went to sulk in his cave in case it was his fault.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
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.
