cavern
Americannoun
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caverns
plural
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a cave, especially one that is large and mostly underground.
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Pathology. a cavity that is produced by disease, especially one produced in the lungs by tuberculosis.
verb (used with object)
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to enclose in or as if in a cavern.
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to hollow out to form a cavern.
noun
verb
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to shut in or as if in a cavern
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to hollow out
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cavern
1325–75; Middle English caverne < Latin caverna, equivalent to cav ( us ) hollow + -erna, as in cisterna cistern
Explanation
A cavern is a large cave or a large chamber in a cave. Or, if your bedroom is very dark, your mother might want you to open the blinds and let some light into that cavern. The word cavern is a late Middle English word that comes from the Latin root cavus, meaning “hollow.” Cavern typically describes a cave, but it can refer to any large enclosed space, especially a space that's dark like a cave. You might sit in a vast cavern when you go to the opera. Cavern can also be used figuratively — you could explore the dark cavern of your mind.
Vocabulary lists containing cavern
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Geological Features
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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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 43-square-foot cavern was filled with colorful leather bags made by a local artisan named Iota Zaggle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
But small excavations between 2021 and 2024, brought on by Bolton's chance visit to the cavern, uncovered evidence of both humans and animals over more than 120,000 years.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
At the end of this cavern is a corridor, which is almost 30 metres long and three metres across, and which leads to a second chamber of the cave.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
For the typically still-water environment, the waves disrupted the shallow shelf that the pupfish use as a spawning area, likely knocking eggs deep into the cavern.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
It wasn’t exactly a spacious cavern, more an undercut in the face of the cliff, with a curtain of enormous icicles screening the entrance.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
European gas-storage facilities are spread across the Continent, from tank farms to massive underground caverns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Freshly excavated caverns 100m underground sit next to stores that have been used for sparkling wine, apples and cheese in recent years.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The deterioration limits how much crude can be pumped into and out of the caverns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Fracturing wells, leaky pumps and other wear-and-tear are straining the Gulf Coast salt caverns that make up the reserve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Every footstep seemed to pull him deeper down into the caverns of his memories.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
