Cradle Meaning
/ˈkɹeɪdəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
nounThe place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence.
Sentence Examples
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
The baby in the cradle is very pretty.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The newborn baby slept peacefully in its wooden ____ near the window.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cradel, credel, from Old English cradol, from Proto-West Germanic *kradul, from Proto-Germanic *kradulaz, from Proto-Germanic *kradô (“(wicker) basket”). Related to cart.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"No sooner was I crept out of my cradle / But I was made a king, at nine months old."
— 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ix]:
"the cradle that received thee at thy birth"
— 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation:
"Hush-a-by, baby, upon the tree-top; / When the wind blows the cradle will rock; / When the bough breaks the cradle will fall; / Down will come cradle and baby and all."
— 1805, Songs for the Nursery, page 5:
"from their cradles bred together"
— c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
"a form of worship in which they had been educated from their cradle"
— 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The newborn baby slept peacefully in its wooden ____ near the window.