crater
[ krey-ter ]
/ ˈkreɪ tər /
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.
QUIZZES
BEAT THE DOLDRUMS WITH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
We know you’ll tackle this quiz totis viribus! See how many words from the week of Oct 12–18, 2020 you get right!
Question 1 of 7
What does “Indigenous” mean?
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, adjectiveDefinition 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. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for crater
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
Medical definitions for crater
crater
[ krā′tər ]
n.
A circular depression or pit in the surface of a tissue or body part.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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.