| / English Dictionary |
CAVERN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A large cave or a large chamber in a cave
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("cavern" is a kind of...):
cave (a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea)
Instance hyponyms:
Carlsbad Caverns (a group of caverns in southeastern New Mexico noted for their stalactites and stalagmites)
Derivation:
cavern (hollow out as if making a cavern)
cavernous (being or suggesting a cavern)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any large dark enclosed space
Example:
his eyes were dark caverns
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("cavern" is a kind of...):
enclosure; natural enclosure (a naturally enclosed space)
Derivation:
cavern (hollow out as if making a cavern)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Hollow out as if making a cavern
Synonyms:
cavern; cavern out
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "cavern" is one way to...):
core out; hollow; hollow out (remove the interior of)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
cavern (a large cave or a large chamber in a cave)
cavern (any large dark enclosed space)
Context examples:
He was in his library (I mean Doctor Strong was), with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly well combed; his knee-smalls unbraced; his long black gaiters unbuttoned; and his shoes yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
But Dora sang, and others sang, and Miss Mills sang—about the slumbering echoes in the caverns of Memory; as if she were a hundred years old—and the evening came on; and we had tea, with the kettle boiling gipsy-fashion; and I was still as happy as ever.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
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