Cave Meaning
/keɪv/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.
nounA hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.
Sentence Examples
"What's going on in the cave? I'm curious." "I have no idea."
No one could find the cave.
The brave explorers entered the dark cave with their flashlights.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Explorers discovered a deep ____ hidden behind the waterfall in the jungle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The explorers used powerful torches to see inside the dark ____ today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cave, borrowed from Old French cave, from Latin cava (“cavity”), from cavus (“hollow”). Cognate with Tocharian B kor (“throat”), Albanian cup (“odd, uneven”), Ancient Greek κύαρ (kúar, “eye of needle, earhole”), Old Armenian սոր (sor, “hole”), Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “empty, barren, zero”). Displaced native Old English sċræf. More at cavum, cavus and cage.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"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, […]"
— 1918, Edward Alfred Steiner, Uncle Joe's Lincoln, page 52:
"These potential radiation fields or radioactive material levels may be the result of normal operations (ie, radiation in a target cave) […]"
— 1986, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Radiation Alarms and Access Control Systems, →ISBN, page 45:
"[…] the casing can then be placed in the hole without encountering any cave and core drilling in rock can begin."
— 1951, James Deans Cumming, Diamond Drill Handbook, page 134:
"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."
— 1885, Angelo Heilprin, Town Geology: The Lesson of the Philadelphia Rocks, page 79:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Explorers discovered a deep ____ hidden behind the waterfall in the jungle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The explorers used powerful torches to see inside the dark ____ today.