cave
[keyv]
- a hollow in the earth, especially one opening more or less horizontally into a hill, mountain, etc.
- a storage cellar, especially for wine.
- English History. a secession, or a group of seceders, from a political party on some special question.
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- to hollow out.
- Mining.
- to cause (overlying material) to fall into a stope, sublevel, or the like.
- to cause (supports, as stulls or sets) to collapse beneath overlying material.
- to fill (a stope or the like) with caved-in material: sub-level caving.
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- to cave in.
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- cave in,
- to fall in; collapse.
- to cause to fall in or collapse.
- Informal.to yield; submit; surrender: The opposition caved in before our superior arguments.
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Origin of cave
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
cave canem
[kah-we kah-nem; English key-vee key-nuh m, kah-vey]
- beware of the dog.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cave
Contemporary Examples
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 was dark, dank, the walls charcoal-colored, the feeling of a cave.
Its name translates to “Cave of the Stone Sepulcher,” but locally it is called by a nickname that means “a place of fear.”
Ironically, the first archaeologist to explore the cave had a connection to the most legendary fictional explorer.
Historical Examples
He is silent and abstracted, like one just returned from the cave of Trophonius.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Quite often the cave gave way to the pressure of the surrounding rock.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
She then returned to the mouth of the cave, and knelt down at Richard Digby's feet.
The Man of AdamantNathaniel Hawthorne
But he thrust his head into the cave, shivered, and congratulated himself.
The Man of AdamantNathaniel Hawthorne
Tse-tse talked to the girl, of all things, about the love-gift she had put in the cave for me.
The Trail BookMary Austin
cave1
- an underground hollow with access from the ground surface or from the sea, often found in limestone areas and on rocky coastlines
- British history a secession or a group seceding from a political party on some issueSee Adullamite
- (modifier) living in caves
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- (tr) to hollow out
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French, from Latin cava, plural of cavum cavity, from cavus hollow
cave2
- guard or lookout (esp in the phrase keep cave)
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- watch out!
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Word Origin
from Latin cavē! beware!
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cave
n.
early 13c., from Old French cave "a cave, vault, cellar" (12c.), from Latin cavea "hollow" (place), noun use of neuter plural of adjective cavus "hollow," from PIE root *keue- "a swelling, arch, cavity" (see cumulus). Replaced Old English eorðscrafu. First record of cave man is 1865.
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v.
early 15c., caven, "to hollow something out," from cave (n.). Modern sense "to collapse in or down" is 1707, American English, presumably from East Anglian dialectal calve "collapse, fall in," perhaps from Flemish; subsequently influenced by cave (n.). Transitive sense by 1762. Related: Caved; caving. Figurative sense of "yield to pressure" is from 1837.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cave
[kāv]
- 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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.