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View synonyms for cave

cave

[ keyv ]

noun

  1. a hollow in the earth, especially one opening more or less horizontally into a hill, mountain, etc.
  2. a storage cellar, especially for wine.
  3. English History. a secession, or a group of seceders, from a political party on some special question.


verb (used with object)

, caved, cav·ing.
  1. to hollow out.
  2. Mining.
    1. to cause (overlying material) to fall into a stope, sublevel, or the like.
    2. to cause (supports, as stulls or sets) to collapse beneath overlying material.
    3. to fill (a stope or the like) with caved-in material:

      sub-level caving.

verb (used without object)

, caved, cav·ing.
  1. to cave in.

verb phrase

    1. to fall in; collapse.
    2. to cause to fall in or collapse.
    3. Informal. to yield; submit; surrender:

      The opposition caved in before our superior arguments.

cave

1

/ ˈkeɪvɪ /

noun

  1. guard or lookout (esp in the phrase keep cave )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


sentence substitute

  1. watch out!
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cave

2

/ keɪv /

noun

  1. an underground hollow with access from the ground surface or from the sea, often found in limestone areas and on rocky coastlines
  2. history a secession or a group seceding from a political party on some issue See Adullamite
  3. modifier living in caves
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. tr to hollow out
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cave

/ kāv /

  1. A naturally occurring underground hollow or passage, especially one with an opening to the surface of the Earth. Caves can form through a variety of processes, including the dissolution of limestone by flowing water, the differential cooling of volcanic magma (which occurs when the outside surface of the lava cools, but the inside continues to flow downwards, forming a hollow tube), or the action of wind and waves along a rocky coast.


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Other Words From

  • cavelike adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cave1

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Late Latin cava (feminine singular), Latin cava, neuter plural of cavum hole, noun use of neuter of cavus hollow
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cave1

from Latin cavē! beware!

Origin of cave2

C13: from Old French, from Latin cava, plural of cavum cavity, from cavus hollow
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Example Sentences

The team at Mount Rainier was supposed to look for these snow caves at the end of the spring, after the animals have left but before the snow all melts.

Other broken-off cave growths had been wielded as digging tools.

The newly found items include stone tools and pendants made from cave bear teeth.

His team spends up to 12 hours each time it ventures into these deep caves.

In response, the angry Amaterasu retreated into a dark cave, thus snatching away her divine light from the world, while the ever-boisterous Susanoo went away from heaven.

Cast Angelina Jolie in that role with Brad Pitt as the cave hubbie, and maybe we have a blockbuster in the making.

The existence of the images—which resemble the styles and themes found in European cave art—has been known for some time.

It surpasses the paintings of horses and rhinoceros from the Chauvet Cave in France by 400 years.

Scientists have long thought that the oldest cave art was in Europe.

It was dark, dank, the walls charcoal-colored, the feeling of a cave.

More soldiers crowded into the cave and Professor-Commander Krafft came in behind them.

No young Cave Swallows were taken and gonads of adults were in various stages of reproductive activity.

Profiting by this, Benjy quietly moved away round a colossal buttress of the berg, and took refuge in an ice-cave.

It was a dangerous journey into this wonderful cave, but sometime Alila must go there, his father said.

If there be any whose appearance denotes a more than common birth, treat him with due respect, and conduct him to my cave.

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