cave-in
noun
a collapse, as of anything hollow.
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
-
to collapse; subside
-
informal to yield completely, esp under pressure
noun
-
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.
A new international study published in Current Biology reports the analysis of ancient mitochondrial DNA extracted from eight Neanderthal teeth found in Stajnia Cave in Poland.
From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026
Residents of Hotham and North Cave, in East Yorkshire, say bags full of empty bottles have been turning up on grass verges for months.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
The Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains is the country’s third deepest, a very complex system with many vertical shafts and a few horizontal sections.
From Washington Times • Sep. 11, 2023
The Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains is the country’s third deepest, a very complex system with many steep vertical shafts and a few horizontal sections.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 11, 2023
“Berries in the woods. Nuts in the woods. Stream in the woods. Cave in the woods. Sandwiches in the woods.”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
