cave

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also cavé

Contents

English [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

Middle English, from Anglo-Norman cave, from Latin cava (“cavity”), from cavus (“hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱówHwos (“cavity”) (compare Irish cúas (“hollow, cavity”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱówH- (compare Tocharian B kor (“throat”), Albanian cup (“odd, uneven”), Ancient Greek κύαρ (kýar, “eye of needle, earhole”), Old Armenian սոր (sor, “hole”), Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “empty, barren, zero”)).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

cave (plural caves)

A cliffside cave.
  1. A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground, or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.
    We found a cave on the mountainside where we could take shelter.
  2. A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.
    • 1918, Edward Alfred Steiner, Uncle Joe's Lincoln[1], page 52:
      Every boy at one time or another has dug a cave; I suppose because ages and ages ago his ancestors had to live in caves, […]
  3. A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.
    This wine has been aged in our cave for thirty years.
  4. A place of retreat, such as a man cave.
    My room was a cozy cave where I could escape from my family.
  5. (caving) A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.
    It was not strictly a cave, but a narrow fissure in the rock.
  6. (nuclear physics) A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.
    • 1986, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Radiation Alarms and Access Control Systems[2], ISBN 0913392847, page 45:
      These potential radiation fields or radioactive material levels may be the result of normal operations (ie, radiation in a target cave) […]
  7. (drilling, uncountable) Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.
    • 1951, James Deans Cumming, Diamond Drill Handbook[3], page 134:
      […] the casing can then be placed in the hole without encountering any cave and core drilling in rock can begin.
  8. (mining) A collapse or cave-in.
    • 1885, Angelo Heilprin, Town Geology: The Lesson of the Philadelphia Rocks[4], page 79:
      The " breasts " of marble which unite the opposite lateral walls have been left standing in order to prevent a possible cave of the wall on either side.
  9. (figuratively, also slang) The vagina.
    • 1976, Chester Himes, My Life of Absurdity[5], page 59:
      Then without a word she lay on her back in the bed, her dark blond pubic hair rising about her dark wet cave like dried brush about a hidden spring.
  10. (slang, politics, often "Cave") A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.
    • 1964, Leon D. Epstein, British Politics in the Suez Crisis[6], page 125:
      Without joining the cave, Hyde had abstained both in December 1956 and May 1957.
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
large, naturally occurring cavity formed underground
hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock
storage cellar
place of retreat
caving: naturally-occurring cavity large enough to be entered by an adult
nuclear physics: shielded place for nuclear experiments
drilling debris
mining: collapse or cave-in
figurative: vagina
political slang: group that breaks on a particular issue

Verb [edit]

cave (third-person singular simple present caves, present participle caving, simple past and past participle caved)

Person caving.
  1. To surrender.
    He caved under pressure.
  2. To collapse.
    First the braces buckled, then the roof began to cave, then we ran.
  3. To hollow out or undermine.
    The levee has been severely caved by the river current.
  4. To engage in the recreational exploration of caves; to spelunk.
    I have caved from Yugoslavia to Kentucky.
    Let's go caving this weekend.
  5. (mining) In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.
    The deposit is caved by knocking out the posts.
  6. (mining, obsolete) To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.
    • 1999, Andy Wood, The Politics of Social Conflict: The Peak Country, 1520-1770[7], ISBN 0521495547, page 319:
      As an indication of the miners' desperation in these years, the free miners of Wensley lowered themselves to caving for scraps of ore.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to surrender
to collapse
undermine

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Latin cavē, second-person singular present active imperative of caveō (“to beware”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Interjection [edit]

cave

  1. (UK, public school slang) look out!; beware!
Translations [edit]
beware!

Anagrams [edit]

French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin cavus (“concave; cavity”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Adjective [edit]

cave (masculine and feminine, plural caves)

  1. Pitted.
  2. Concave.
  3. Cavernous.

Noun 1 [edit]

cave f (plural caves)

  1. A cellar or basement.
  2. (specifically) A wine cellar; or, a piece of furniture that serves the purpose of a wine cellar.
  3. (by extension) A wine selection.
  4. caves: An estate where wine grapes are grown or (especially) where wine is produced.
  5. =cave à liqueurs: A chest for the storage of liquors.

Noun 2 [edit]

cave m (plural caves)

  1. (Quebec, slang) An imbecile, a stupid person.

Anagrams [edit]

Italian [edit]

Adjective [edit]

cave f

  1. Feminine plural form of cavo

Noun [edit]

cave f

  1. Plural form of cava

Jèrriais [edit]

Etymology [edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page as described here.

Noun [edit]

cave f (plural caves)

  1. cave, cellar

Latin [edit]

Verb [edit]

cavē

  1. second-person singular present imperative of caveō

Spanish [edit]

Verb [edit]

cave (infinitive cavar)

  1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of cavar.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of cavar.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of cavar.

Portuguese [edit]

Noun [edit]

cave m (plural caves)

  1. cellar

Verb [edit]

cave

  1. first-person singular present subjunctive of cavar
  2. third-person singular present subjunctive of cavar
  3. third-person singular imperative of cavar
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=cave&oldid=20602342"