cavern

[kav-ern]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cavern ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a cave, especially one that is large and mostly underground.

Pathology. a cavity that is produced by disease, especially one produced in the lungs by tuberculosis.

verb (used with object)

to enclose in or as if in a cavern.

to hollow out to form a cavern.

Origin of cavern

1325–75; Middle English caverne < Latin caverna, equivalent to cav(us) hollow + -erna, as in cisterna cistern

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cavern

pothole, cave, grotto, hole, subterrane

Examples from the Web for cavern

Contemporary Examples of cavern

The Beatles Story Museum features a replica of the Cavern Club and a Fab 4D animated cinema show.
Catch Beatles Fever! Ten Essential Travel Destinations for Beatlemaniacs
Lonely Planet
January 3, 2014
Next door to the museum is a clone of the Cavern Club, the Beatle Café and the Sala John Lennon stand-up comedy theatre.
Catch Beatles Fever! Ten Essential Travel Destinations for Beatlemaniacs
Lonely Planet
January 3, 2014
Her body was covered with a blanket when it was found inside a cavern of the ancient walls, obscuring it from view.
Istanbul Hunts for Sarai Sierra’s Killer
Mike Giglio
February 7, 2013

Historical Examples of cavern

It was soothing to his eyes, so used to the darkness of the Nibelungs' cavern.
Opera Stories from Wagner
Florence Akin
In an instant they fled into the darkest corner of the cavern.
Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew
Josephine Preston Peabody
The Sibyl placed them in rows on the ledges of rock inside the cavern.
Classic Myths
Mary Catherine Judd
Charley was a few yards ahead of me, and ran stooping into the cavern.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
All around the dais, seated on the sloping floor of the cavern, were Lakonians.
Priestess of the Flame
Sewell Peaslee Wright

British Dictionary definitions for cavern

cavern

noun

a cave, esp when large and formed by underground water, or a large chamber in a cave

verb (tr)

to shut in or as if in a cavern

to hollow out

Word Origin for cavern

C14: from Old French caverne, from Latin caverna, from cavus hollow; see cave 1

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

Word Origin and History for cavern

late 14c., from Old French caverne (12c.) "cave, vault, cellar," from Late Latin caverna "cave," from Latin cavus "hollow" (see cave (n.)). In Old English such a land feature might be called an eorðscræf.

cavern in Science

cavern

[kăv′ərn]

A large cave.