Showing results for "crater"

• a variation of krater.

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  crater
• Crater
  Crater

  noun

  Joseph Force 1889–?, a judge of the New York State Supreme Court: his mysterious disappearance on August 6, 1930, has never been solved.

crater

¹ American  

[krey-ter] / ˈkreɪ tər /

noun

• craters,
  plural
• Crateris
  genitive

1. Geology, Astronomy.

   1. Also called impact crater;.  Also called meteorite crater.  a large bowl-shaped depression on the surface of the earth or other heavenly body, formed by the impact of a meteorite.

   2. a similar depression or cavity that forms the opening of a volcano or geyser. The volcanic activity that creates such craters occurs on the surface of the earth as well as a number of other heavenly bodies.

2. the hole or pit in the ground where a bomb, shell, or military mine has exploded.

3. Electricity. the cavity formed in a positive carbon electrode by an electric arc.

4. Greek and Roman Antiquity. krater.

5. Metalworking. a depression at the end of a bead produced by welding.

6. (initial capital letter) the Cup, a small southern constellation west of Corvus and north of Hydra.

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verb (used with object)

• craters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cratered,
  past participle,  past
• cratering
  present participle

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.

   3. to collapse, plunge, or fail suddenly; crash.

      The company’s stock has cratered 35% this year.

verb (used without object)

• craters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cratered,
  past participle,  past
• cratering
  present participle

1. to form a crater or craters.

   The surface of the concrete cratered and cracked under the repeated impacts.

Crater ² American  

[krey-ter] / ˈkreɪ tər /

noun

1. Joseph Force 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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Crater ¹ British  

/ ˈkreɪtə /

noun

1. a small faint constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Virgo and Hydra

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crater ² British  

/ ˈkreɪtə /

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

crater Scientific  

/ 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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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crater-like
  adjective
• crateral
  adjective
• cratered
  adjective
• craterless
  adjective
• craterlike
  adjective
• craterous
  adjective
• intercrater
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• craters
  plural

Participles

• cratering
  present
• cratered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crater
  simple
• craters
  simple
• have cratered
  perfect
• has cratered
  perfect
• am cratering
  progressive
• are cratering
  progressive
• is cratering
  progressive
• have been cratering
  perfect progressive
• has been cratering
  perfect progressive

Past

• cratered
  simple
• had cratered
  perfect
• was cratering
  progressive
• were cratering
  progressive
• had been cratering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crater
  simple
• will have cratered
  perfect
• will be cratering
  progressive
• will have been cratering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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

Explanation

A crater is a roundish dent left in the surface of something by the impact of something else. Look at the moon: it's covered in craters from thousands of impacts over millions of years. Once in a while, you might hear the word crater used as a verb, as in, "The movie cratered at the box office, earning way less than expected." But you'll usually hear crater used as a noun to refer to a bowl-shaped depression left behind by an explosion or impact. Outside Flagstaff, Arizona, you'll find Meteor Crater, one of the most well-defined impact craters on the surface of the earth. It's almost a mile across, even though the meteor that created it was less than 100 yards in diameter.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crater Crater craters Crateris cratered cratering

Locating the crater involved cooperation among professional researchers and amateur observers around the world.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Engineers tilted LRO so its cameras could point toward the crater as the spacecraft passed roughly 60 miles above the lunar surface at a speed of about 1 mile per second.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

In March 2022, a rocket slammed into the moon, creating a double crater about 95 feet wide.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

A stray SpaceX rocket has crashed into the Moon, forming a crater near a famous lunar landmark and giving scientists a unique research opportunity that could help future missions.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

We are in a crater, the English are coming down obliquely, they are turning our flank and working in behind us.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

Astrobotic's Griffin-1 lander is expected to land at Nobile Crater near the South Pole.

From BBC ● May 26, 2026

In a dried-up riverbed, there’s a rock with a freshly drilled hole in it—the handiwork of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which touched down in Jezero Crater in 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

Gilbert later joined expeditions to Haughton Crater in the late 2000s led by Dr. Natalia Rybcynski, a CMN Research Associate and co-author.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 2026

The research, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets, focuses on ancient sand dunes located in Gale Crater, an area explored by NASA's Curiosity rover.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 15, 2026

Crater Vishniac lies appropriately in the Antarctic region of Mars.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

It is a dream moment for planetary scientists because it lets them test their models of how impacts dig out craters, throw debris across the surface, and send tremors through the Moon's interior.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Such clues can include ancient eruption deposits, volcanic craters, rising or sinking ground, and escaping gases.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Asteroids and meteors have given the satellite its signature pockmarked surface and network of craters.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Around 200 confirmed impact craters exist on land, and only about 33 have been identified beneath the ocean.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

The lawn looked like a war zone, with smoking craters and trenches from the blown-out irrigation pipes.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

If now the telescope be directed to Alkes, there will be found, following him at a distance of 42·5 s, and about one minute southerly, a small red star, R. Crateris.

From Half-hours with the Telescope Being a Popular Guide to the Use of the Telescope as a Means of Amusement and Instruction. by Richard A. (Richard Anthony) Proctor

The star Alkes, or α Crateris, must first be found.

From Half-hours with the Telescope Being a Popular Guide to the Use of the Telescope as a Means of Amusement and Instruction. by Richard A. (Richard Anthony) Proctor

This is R Crateris, now known to be variable from above the 8th magnitude to below the 9th.

From Astronomical Curiosities Facts and Fallacies by J. Ellard Gore

Each attempt went bust when global economic downturns cratered the semiconductor market and sent chip prices plummeting.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

That optimism was short lived as Salesforce stock has cratered nearly 30% over the ensuing losing streak.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

The Emmys still draw consumer attention to a series — or a streamer — despite the fact that ratings for awards telecasts have cratered since the pandemic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026

During the encounter, the spacecraft captured a series of images, including a striking view of the double-ring Huygens crater surrounded by the heavily cratered southern highlands of Mars.

From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026

Laila sat across from Abdul Sharif, who was a thin, small- headed man with a bulbous nose pocked with the same cratered scars that pitted his cheeks.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

While Huang was in Seoul, South Korea’s main stock index halted trading on June 8 after cratering more than 8%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

But the broader policy has remained in place and “the numbers are still cratering on them,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026

Either way, his poll numbers have been cratering for the last two months.

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2026

The duties came as the company was facing a triple whammy of cratering sales in China, stagnant demand in Europe and the costs of investing into electric cars despite patchy demand.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

Thus, very roughly, craters on the Moon should be formed today at the rate of about 109 years/104 craters, = 105 years/crater, a hundred thousand years between cratering events.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• hole
• mouth
• pit