cavity
Americannoun
-
cavities
plural
-
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.
noun
-
a hollow space; hole
-
dentistry a soft decayed area on a tooth See caries
-
any empty or hollow space within the body
the oral cavity
-
electronics See cavity resonator
-
A hollow; a hole.
-
A hollow area within the body.
-
A pitted area in a tooth caused by caries.
Usage
What is a cavity? A cavity is a pit or hole in a tooth caused by the decay of the enamel and bone, such as you might get if you don’t brush your teeth regularly. A cavity is more generally any hollow place or crater, as in When the old building was torn down, all that was left was a huge cavity in the ground. A cavity is also any other hole, divet, or pit in the body, such as the spinal cavity, which surrounds your spinal cord. Example: That cavity in your molar is probably from all the soda you drink.
Synonym Usage
See hole.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cavity
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French cavite from Late Latin cavitās “hollowness,” equivalent to Latin cav(us) “hollow” + -itās -ity
Explanation
A cavity is a carved-out space inside something solid like a wall or a tooth. If you have a cavity, you have a hole in your tooth, and it’s time to go to the dentist for a filling. Lucky you. Doctors sometimes refer to various internal body parts as cavities, such as the "abdominal cavity," which includes the stomach and other hollow parts of the abdomen. You are more likely to hear the word at the dentist’s office, when she finds a cavity, which is a space in your tooth that's been eaten away by decay. Fun! (Not.) Cavity shares the Latin root cavus, "hollow," with the word cave.
Vocabulary lists containing cavity
There's No There There: Synonyms for "Empty"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Sounder
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
And Then, Boom!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Unlike fat that accumulates directly beneath the skin, visceral fat lies deep within the abdominal cavity, surrounding organs such as the liver and intestines.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
A mass was found in Jake's nose and nasal cavity and he was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The results showed that placing NbSe2 in the cavity significantly increased its superconducting critical temperature, the temperature below which the material enters its superconducting state.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
One of the strongest clues came from the relationship between the superconductivity enhancement and the characteristic frequency of the dark cavity.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
In some parts, the staircase was open to the Buddha’s cavity.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
The researchers also detected previously unrecognized chemical boundaries in the choroid plexus, the structure responsible for producing cerebrospinal fluid, as well as in the tissues lining the brain's internal cavities.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
When Pioneer created samples, cavities intended to hold game accessories didn’t form, came out too thin or didn’t have the required depth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
She shared that her cancer had spread to her peritoneum, a membrane that lines the abdominal and pelvic cavities and protects internal organs.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Some create burrows in the ground, others use cavities in wood such as tree hollows or fallen branches, and some nest inside plant stems or small existing holes in twigs.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026
I pictured her whispering the news to all the people in the waiting room who were about to get their cavities drilled.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
