cave-in
noun
a collapse, as of anything hollow.
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cave-in
American
[keyv-in]
/ ˈkeɪvˌɪn /
noun
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a collapse, as of anything hollow.
the worst cave-in in the history of mining.
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a place or site of such a collapse.
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submission to something or someone previously opposed or resisted.
His cave-in to such unreasonable demands shocked us.
cave in
British
verb
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to collapse; subside
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informal to yield completely, esp under pressure
noun
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the sudden collapse of a roof, piece of ground, etc, into a hollow beneath it; subsidence
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the site of such a collapse, as at a mine or tunnel
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informal an instance of yielding completely, esp under pressure
cave in
Idioms
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Fall in, collapse, as in The earthquake made the walls cave in . [Early 1700s]
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Give in, admit defeat, as in The prosecutor's questions soon made the witness cave in . [Early 1800s]
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Collapse, faint, or die from exhaustion, as in After a twenty-mile hike I caved in . [Mid-1800s]
Etymology
Origin of cave-in
First recorded in 1700–10; noun use of verb phrase cave in
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:
The shoddy construction, Slepcevic said, made it difficult for rescuers trying to access tight spaces filled with debris, the danger of a cave-in ever present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
And they do not suggest massive subsidence or a cave-in of the mountain.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2025
They have not said what caused the cave-in, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
From Reuters ● Nov. 21, 2023
However, according to a Newsweek article that comprehensively details the changes, it appears more likely that rights issues from Fox 5 in Atlanta were the issue, not a political cave-in.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
Opposite the cave-in, the tunnel terminated after a hundred feet, confirming her fear.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Yet, every day ends with him retreating to his cave in exhaustion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Her first eclipse, seen in 2006 from a cave in Cappadocia, Turkey, made Whitman Check hyperventilate and her husband cry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Blasted into 1.9 billion-year-old stable bedrock in Eurajoki, southwest Finland, the geological repository for spent nuclear waste -- dubbed Onkalo which means "cave" in Finnish -- is nearly ready to start operations.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
A Maldivian government spokesperson told the BBC that the team had a permit to dive to a depth of 50m but had not mentioned the cave in their proposal.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
Canceling the team would send a clear message about her expectations to players on all of her teams, and she didn’t want to appear to cave in.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
Definitions 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.
