This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
crater
[ krey-ter ]
/ ˈkreɪ tər /
Save This Word!
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
noun
verb (used with object)
to make craters in: Bombs had cratered the landscape.
Slang.
- to cancel, abandon, or cast aside: to crater the new project.
- to destroy or ruin: One more disappointment won't crater me.
- to collapse, plunge, or fail suddenly; crash: The company’s stock has cratered 35% this year.
verb (used without object)
to form a crater or craters: The surface of the concrete cratered and cracked under the repeated impacts.
QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!
Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Origin of crater
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin crātēr, from Greek krātḗr “mixing bowl,” literally, “mixer”, equivalent to krā- (base of kerannýnai “to mix”) + -tēr agent suffix; cf. crasis
OTHER WORDS FROM crater
cra·ter·al, cra·ter·ous, adjectivecra·ter·like, adjectivein·ter·cra·ter, adjectiveWords nearby crater
Other definitions for crater (2 of 2)
Crater
[ krey-ter ]
/ ˈkreɪ tər /
noun
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use crater in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for crater (1 of 2)
crater
/ (ˈkreɪtə) /
noun
verb
to make or form craters in (a surface, such as the ground)
slang to fail; collapse; crash
Derived forms of crater
cratered, adjectivecraterless, adjectivecrater-like, adjectiveWord Origin for crater
C17: from Latin: mixing bowl, crater, from Greek kratēr, from kerannunai to mix
British Dictionary definitions for crater (2 of 2)
Crater
/ (ˈkreɪtə) /
noun Latin genitive Crateris (ˈkreɪtərɪs)
a small faint constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Virgo and Hydra
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
Scientific definitions for crater
crater
[ krā′tər ]
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.
A shallow, bowl-shaped depression in a surface, formed by an explosion or by the impact of a body, such as a meteorite.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.