cavity

[kav-i-tee]

See more synonyms for cavity on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural cav·i·ties.

any hollow place; hollow.
Anatomy. a hollow space within the body, an organ, a bone, etc.
a hollow space or a pit in a tooth, most commonly produced by caries. A cavity may be artificially made to support dental restorations.

Origin of cavity

1535–45; < Middle French cavite < Late Latin cavitās hollowness, equivalent to Latin cav(us) hollow + -itās -ity

Related formscav·i·tied, adjectivesub·cav·i·ty, noun, plural sub·cav·i·ties.un·cav·i·tied, adjective

Synonyms for cavity

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. See hole.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cavity

crater, dent, decay, void, vacuity, hollow, pocket, chamber, gap, atrium, hole, sinus, pit, basin, depression, socket, bursa, caries, armpit

Examples from the Web for cavity

Contemporary Examples of cavity

Take a “cavity bomb,” for example: explosives hidden in rolls of fat, between butt cheeks.
Man’s Airport Strip Meant to Highlight Intrusive and Ineffective TSA Security
Winston Ross
May 9, 2012
In police work, that's called a custody search that includes everything short of a cavity search.
The Danger of Airport Pat-Downs
Bill Richardson
October 30, 2010

Historical Examples of cavity

Suddenly, he poked his head down to the very bottom of this cavity.
An Old Woman's Tale
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Within the cavity lay a sword, with a golden hilt, and a pair of sandals.
Tanglewood Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Then fill up the cavity with marmalade, or with lemon and sugar.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
And he bent forward and compelled her also to stoop over the cavity.
Fruitfulness
Emile Zola
One of the peasants was throwing the first shovelful of earth into the cavity.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for cavity

cavity

noun plural -ties

a hollow space; hole
dentistry a soft decayed area on a toothSee caries
any empty or hollow space within the bodythe oral cavity
electronics See cavity resonator

Word Origin for cavity

C16: from French cavité, from Late Latin cavitās, from Latin cavus hollow

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 cavity

1540s, from Middle French cavité (13c.), from Late Latin cavitatem (nominative cavitas) "hollowness," from Latin cavus "hollow" (see cave (n.)).

cavity in Medicine