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cradle

Pronunciation: /ˈkreɪd(ə)l/
Translate cradle | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cradle

noun

  • 1a baby’s bed or cot, typically one mounted on rockers: the baby slept peacefully in its cradle
  • (the cradle) infancy:the welfare state was set up to provide care from the cradle to the grave
  • (the cradle of) a place or process in which something originates or flourishes:the Middle East is generally held to be the cradle of agriculture
  • 2a framework resembling a cradle, in particular:
  • a framework on which a boat rests during construction or repairs.
  • British a framework on which a worker is suspended to work on a ceiling, ship, or the side of a high building.
  • the part of a telephone on which the receiver rests when not in use.

verb

[with object]
  • 1hold gently and protectively:she cradled his head in her arms
  • figurative be the place of origin of:the north-eastern states cradled an American industrial revolution
  • 2place (a telephone receiver) in its cradle: she cradled the receiver gently

Origin:

Old English cradol, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to German Kratte 'basket'

cradle in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cradle in the US English dictionary

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