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cave1

Pronunciation: /keɪv/

Translate cave | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cave

noun

  • a natural underground chamber in a hillside or cliff: the narrow gorge contains a series of prehistoric caves

verb

[no object]
  • 1British explore caves as a sport: they say they cave for the adventure, challenge, and physical exercise

Phrasal Verbs

cave in (or cave something in)

(with reference to a roof or similar structure) subside or collapse, or cause something to do this:the tunnel walls caved in storms caved the roof in Len’s club would have caved his skull in
yield or submit under pressure:the manager caved in to his demands

Derivatives

cave-like

adjective

caver

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French, from Latin cava, from cavus 'hollow' (compare with cavern). The usage cave in may be from the synonymous dialect expression calve in, influenced by obsolete cave 'excavate, hollow out'

cave in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cave in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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