Library / English Dictionary

CAVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("cave" is a kind of...):

formation; geological formation ((geology) the geological features of the earth)

Meronyms (parts of "cave"):

floor (the lower inside surface of any hollow structure)

roof (the inner top surface of a covered area or hollow space)

stalactite (a cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave)

stalagmite (a cylinder of calcium carbonate projecting upward from the floor of a limestone cave)

wall (a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cave"):

cavern (a large cave or a large chamber in a cave)

cove (small or narrow cave in the side of a cliff or mountain)

grot; grotto (a small cave (usually with attractive features))

Instance hyponyms:

Fingal's Cave (a large cave with basaltic pillars on Staffa island in Scotland)

Lascaux (a cave in southwestern France that contains Paleolithic paintings)

Derivation:

cave (explore natural caves)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Explore natural caves

Synonyms:

cave; spelunk

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "cave" is one way to...):

explore (travel to or penetrate into)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

cave (a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hollow out as if making a cave or opening

Example:

The river was caving the banks

Synonyms:

cave; undermine

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cave" is one way to...):

core out; hollow; hollow out (remove the interior of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cave"):

sap (excavate the earth beneath)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

A small pocket, vesicle, cave, or recess communicating with the outside of a cell and extending inward, indenting the cytoplasm and the cell membrane.

(Caveola, NCI Thesaurus)

Ice cores drilled from a glacier in a cave in Transylvania offer new evidence of how Europe's winter weather and climate patterns fluctuated during the last 10,000 years, known as the Holocene period.

(Ice cave in Transylvania yields window into region's past, NSF)

The summer and winter magnesium-to-calcium ratios are thus very different from each other due to variations in the quantity of water entering the cave during these seasons.

(Cave stalagmites reveal India’s rainfall secrets, SciDev.Net)

Their promixity to one another, along with the caves' and mines' natural humidity, has fueled the outbreak of one of the worst bat diseases in history: White Nose Syndrome (WNS).

(Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?, NSF)

They also reported the mother's DNA was not closely related to that of other Neanderthals found in the cave, suggesting multiple migrations of Neanderthals between Siberia and Europe.

(Fossil genome shows hybrid of two extinct species of human, Wikinews)

More than 1,000 stone tools were collected from the two caves.

(Neanderthals used resin 'glue' for tools, National Science Foundation)

"A few of these caves are in national parks, but there's a lot of poaching everywhere."

(Snakes Hunt in Groups, Study Suggests, VOA)

Foremost of all, of course, were the sight of the fiery caves and the certainty that some troglodytic race inhabited them.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"A gloomy wood," according to the one playbill, was represented by a few shrubs in pots, green baize on the floor, and a cave in the distance.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He went on to add The exceptions to the rule about being at the coast where water comes out actually are met by the fact there is also water there – it is found through cave locations, referring to caves with fresh water, and that some historical evidence suggests there may have been wells dug near the ahu that are not near caves.

(Scientists report correlation between locations of Easter Island statues and water resources, Wikinews)