Adjacent Words

Cave definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CAVE, n. A hollow place in the earth; a subterraneous cavern; a den. This may be natural or artificial. The primitive inhabitants of the earth, in many countries, lived in caves; and the present inhabitants of some parts of the earth, especially in the high northern latitudes, occupy caves, particularly in winter.
Lot dwelt in a cave, he and his daughters. Genesis 19.
Caves were also used for the burial of the dead.
Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelab. Genesis 23.
Bacon applies the word to the ear, the cave of the ear; but this application is unusual.
CAVE, v.t. To make hollow.
CAVE, v.i. To dwell in a cave.
To cave in, to fall in and leave a hollow, as earth on the side of a well or pit. When in digging into the earth, the side is excavated by a falling of a quantity of earth, it is said to cave in.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea v
1: hollow out as if making a cave or opening; "The river was caving the banks" [syn: cave, undermine]
2: explore natural caves [syn: cave, spelunk]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin cava, from cavus hollow; akin to Greek koilos hollow, and probably to Greek kyein to be pregnant — more at cyme Date: 13th century 1. a natural underground chamber or series of chambers open to the surface 2. a usually underground chamber for storage <a wine cave>; also the articles stored there II. verb (caved; caving) Date: 15th century transitive verb to form a cave in or under ; hollow, undermine intransitive verb to explore caves especially as a sport or hobby • caver noun III. verb (caved; caving) Etymology: probably alteration of calve Date: 1513 intransitive verb 1. to fall in or down especially from being undermined — usually used with in 2. to cease to resist ; submit — usually used with in transitive verb to cause to fall or collapse — usually used with in

Britannica Concise

Naturally formed underground cavity. A cave often consists of a number of underground chambers, constituting a series of caverns. An assemblage of such caverns interconnected by smaller passageways makes up a cave system. Primary caves, such as lava tubes and coral caves, develop during the time when the host matrix is solidifying or being deposited. Secondary caves, such as marine grottoes, originate after the host matrix has been deposited or consolidated. Most caves are of the latter type, incl. solution caves formed by the chemical dissolution of a soluble host rock that has been weakened by fracturing and mechanical erosion; Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns are examples of solution caves.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a large hollow in the side of a cliff, hill, etc., or underground. 2 Brit. hist. a dissident political group. --v.intr. explore caves, esp. interconnecting or underground. Phrases and idioms: cave-bear an extinct kind of large bear, whose bones have been found in caves. cave-dweller = CAVEMAN. cave in 1 a (of a wall, earth over a hollow, etc.) subside, collapse. b cause (a wall, earth, etc.) to do this. 2 yield or submit under pressure; give up. cave-in n. a collapse, submission, etc. Derivatives: cavelike adj. caver n. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L cava f. cavus hollow: cave in prob. f. E. Anglian dial. calve in 2. int. Brit. schoolsl. look out! (as a warning cry). Phrases and idioms: keep cave act as lookout. Etymology: L, = beware

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cave Cave, n. (Eng. Politics) A coalition or group of seceders from a political party, as from the Liberal party in England in 1866. See Adullam, Cave of, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cave Cave, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Caved; p. pr. & vb. n. Caving.] [Cf. F. caver. See Cave, n.] To make hollow; to scoop out. [Obs.] The mouldred earth cav'd the banke. --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cave Cave, v. i. 1. To dwell in a cave. [Obs.] --Shak. 2. [See To cave in, below.] To fall in or down; as, the sand bank caved. Hence (Slang), to retreat from a position; to give way; to yield in a disputed matter. To cave in. [Flem. inkalven.] (a) To fall in and leave a hollow, as earth on the side of a well or pit. (b) To submit; to yield. [Slang] --H. Kingsley.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cave Cave (k[=a]v), n. [F. cave, L. cavus hollow, whence cavea cavity. Cf. Cage.] 1. A hollow place in the earth, either natural or artificial; a subterraneous cavity; a cavern; a den. 2. Any hollow place, or part; a cavity. [Obs.] ``The cave of the ear.'' --Bacon. Cave bear (Zo["o]l.), a very large fossil bear (Ursus spel[ae]us) similar to the grizzly bear, but large; common in European caves. Cave dweller, a savage of prehistoric times whose dwelling place was a cave. --Tylor. Cave hyena (Zo["o]l.), a fossil hyena found abundanty in British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of the living African spotted hyena. Cave lion (Zo["o]l.), a fossil lion found in the caves of Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African lion. Bone cave. See under Bone.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(caves, caving, caved) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. A cave is a large hole in the side of a cliff or hill, or one that is under the ground. ...a cave more than 1,000 feet deep. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria, many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes.

The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot (Gen. 19:30).

The next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (Gen. 25:9, 10). It was the burying-place of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Gen. 49:31; 50:13).

The cave of Makkedah, into which the five Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua (10:16, 27).

The cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid himself from Saul (1 Sam. 22:1, 2).

The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called 'Ain Jidy, i.e., the "Fountain of the Kid", where David cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (24:4). Here he also found a shelter for himself and his followers to the number of 600 (23:29; 24:1). "On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day."

The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets (1 Kings 18:4) was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified.

The cave of Elijah (1 Kings 19:9), and the "cleft" of Moses on Horeb (Ex. 33:22), cannot be determined.

In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain regions of Manasseh (Judg. 6:2).

Caves were frequently used as dwelling-places (Num. 24:21; Cant. 2:14; Jer. 49:16; Obad. 1:3). "The excavations at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites," the ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also sometimes used as prisons (Isa. 24:22; 51:14; Zech. 9:11). Those which had niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places (Ezek. 32:23; John 11:38).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kav ([me`arah] (compare Arabic magharah), chor (Job 30:6 the King James Version), mechilloth (Isa 2:19); ope (Hebrews 11:38), spelaion (Joh 11:38); chor, more often rendered "hole," is akin to Arabic khaur, "gulf" or "inlet," but is also related to me`arah (compare also Arabic ghaur "low-land," especially of the Jordan valley and Dead Sea). Mechilloth (root, chalal, "to pierce" (compare Arabic khall, "to pierce")) occurs only in Isa 2:19, where the King James Version has "caves" and translates me`aroth in the same verse by "holes." In the Revised Version (British and American) these words are very properly changed about. Spelaion is a common Greek word for "cave"; ope means rather "hole"): In Palestine as in other limestone countries, caves are of frequent occurrence, and not a few of large size are known. Water from the rain and snow, seeping down through cracks, enlarges the passages through which it goes by dissolving away the substance of the rock. Just as upon the surface of the land the trickling streams unite to form brooks and rivers, so many subterranean streams may come together in a spacious channel, and may issue upon the surface as a bold spring. The cave of the Dog River near Beirut and that of 'Afqa (perhaps Aphek (Jos 13:4)) in Lebanon are excellent examples of this. Not infrequently after forming a cave the stream of water may find some lower outlet by a different route, leaving its former course dry. In some cases the hinder part of the roof of the cave may fall in, leaving the front part standing as a natural bridge. Numerous shallow caves, especially in the faces of cliffs, are formed not by seeping water, but by atmospheric erosion, a portion of a relatively soft stratum of rock being hollowed out, while harder strata above and below it are but little worn away. Many of the hermits' caves originated in this way and were artificially enlarged and walled up at the mouth. The principal caves mentioned in the Bible are those of MACHPELAH, MAKKEDAH and ADULLAM (which see).

See DEN.

Alfred Ely Day

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Cavern, den, grotto, grot.

Moby Thesaurus

abri, air-raid shelter, antre, bend, bomb shelter, bombproof, bow, bowl, break, break down, breakdown, breaking up, breakup, buckle, bunker, burrow, capitulate, cataclysm, catastrophe, cave in, cave-in, cavern, cavity, collapse, concave, concealment, couch, cove, cover, covert, coverture, crack-up, crash, crumple, cup, cyclone cellar, debacle, decline, defer, deflate, den, disaster, dish, droop, dugout, earth, fall in, fallout shelter, flop, flop down, flump, flump down, fold, fold up, form, founder, foxhole, funk hole, give way, go, go down, grot, grotto, hole, hollow, hollow out, implode, knuckle, knuckle under, lair, lapse, lodge, lower, mew, plop, plop down, plump, puncture, run, safety zone, sag, set, settle, settle down, sewer, shelter, shipwreck, sink, sink down, slouch, slump, slump down, smash, smashup, storm cave, storm cellar, submerge, submit, subside, subterrane, subterranean, subway, succumb, surrender, swag, total loss, trench, tunnel, warren, washout, wrack, wreck, yield