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crater

[krey-ter]
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noun
  1. the cup-shaped depression or cavity on the surface of the earth or other heavenly body marking the orifice of a volcano.
  2. Also called impact crater, meteorite crater. (on the surface of the earth, moon, etc.) a bowl-shaped depression with a raised rim, formed by the impact of a meteoroid.Compare astrobleme.
  3. Astronomy. (on the surface of the moon) a circular or almost circular area having a depressed floor, almost always containing a central mountain and usually completely enclosed by walls that are often higher than those of a walled plain; ring formation; ring.Compare walled plain.
  4. the bowllike orifice of a geyser.
  5. the hole or pit in the ground where a bomb, shell, or military mine has exploded.
  6. Electricity. the cavity formed in a positive carbon electrode by an electric arc.
  7. Greek and Roman Antiquity. krater.
  8. Metalworking. a depression at the end of a bead produced by welding.
  9. genitive Cra·te·ris [krey-teer-is] /kreɪˈtɪər ɪs/. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the Cup, a small southern constellation west of Corvus and north of Hydra.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make craters in: Bombs had cratered the landscape.
  2. Slang.
    1. to cancel, abandon, or cast aside: to crater the new project.
    2. to destroy or ruin: One more disappointment won't crater me.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to form a crater or craters: The surface of the concrete cratered and cracked under the repeated impacts.
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Origin of crater

1605–15; < Latin < Greek krātḗr mixing bowl, literally, mixer, equivalent to krā- (base of kerannýnai to mix) + -tēr agentive suffix; cf. crasis
Related formscra·ter·al, cra·ter·ous, adjectivecra·ter·like, adjectivein·ter·cra·ter, adjective

Crater

[krey-ter]
noun
  1. Joseph Force [fawrs, fohrs] /fɔrs, foʊrs/, 1889–?, a judge of the New York State Supreme Court: his mysterious disappearance on August 6, 1930, has never been solved.
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krater

or cra·ter

[krey-ter]
noun Greek and Roman Antiquity.
  1. a mixing bowl characterized by a wide mouth and body with two handles projecting vertically from the juncture of the neck and body, used to mix wine and water.
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Compare kelebe.

Origin of krater

1855–60; < Greek krātḗr; see crater
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for crater

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • We stood now on the rim of the crater, looking straight into the inferno.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

  • The crater was one hundred and fifty feet wide and fifty feet deep.

  • But the empty silence of the desert was misleading, as the men in the crater knew.

    Two Thousand Miles Below

    Charles Willard Diffin

  • In another moment they were riding rapidly toward the rim of the crater.

    Louisiana Lou

    William West Winter

  • He pressed on up to the rim of the crater and lost no time in the descent on the other side.

    Louisiana Lou

    William West Winter

British Dictionary definitions for crater

crater

noun
  1. the bowl-shaped opening at the top or side of a volcano or top of a geyser through which lava and gases are emitted
  2. a similarly shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or exploding bomb
  3. any of the circular or polygonal walled formations covering the surface of the moon and some other planets, formed probably either by volcanic action or by the impact of meteorites. They can have a diameter of up to 240 kilometres (150 miles) and a depth of 8900 metres (29 000 feet)
  4. a pit in an otherwise smooth surface
  5. a large open bowl with two handles, used for mixing wines, esp in ancient Greece
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verb
  1. to make or form craters in (a surface, such as the ground)
  2. slang to fail; collapse; crash
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Derived Formscratered, adjectivecraterless, adjectivecrater-like, adjective

Word Origin

C17: from Latin: mixing bowl, crater, from Greek kratēr, from kerannunai to mix

Crater

noun Latin genitive Crateris (ˈkreɪtərɪs)
  1. a small faint constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Virgo and Hydra
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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 crater

n.

1610s, from Latin crater, from Greek krater "bowl for mixing wine with water," from kera- "to mix," from PIE root *kere- "to mix, confuse; cook" (see rare (adj.2)). Used in Latin for bowl-shaped mouth of a volcano. Applied to features of the Moon since 1860. As a verb, from 1830 in poetry, 1872 in science. Related: Cratered; cratering.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
crater in Medicine

crater

(krā′tər)
n.
  1. A circular depression or pit in the surface of a tissue or body part.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
crater in Science

crater

[krā′tər]
  1. A bowl-shaped depression at the top of a volcano or at the mouth of a geyser. Volcanic craters can form because of magma explosions in which a large amount of lava is thrown out from a volcano, leaving a hole, or because the roof of rock over an underground magma pool collapses after the magma has flowed away.
  2. A shallow, bowl-shaped depression in a surface, formed by an explosion or by the impact of a body, such as a meteorite.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.