cave

English Online Dictionary. What means cave‎? What does cave mean?

English

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kāv, IPA^(key): /keɪv/
• Rhymes: -eɪv

Noun

cave (plural caves)

1. A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.
2. A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.
3. A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.

4. A place of retreat, such as a man cave.

5. (caving) A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.

6. (nuclear physics) A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.
7. (drilling, uncountable) Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.
8. (mining) A collapse or cave-in.
9. (figuratively, also slang) The vagina.
10. (slang, politics, often "Cave") A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.
11. (obsolete) Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.
12. (programming) A code cave.

Synonyms

• earthhole

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

cave (third-person singular simple present caves, present participle caving, simple past and past participle caved)

1. (figurative) To surrender.
2. To collapse.

3. To hollow out or undermine.

4. To engage in the recreational exploration of caves.

   Synonym: spelunk
5. (mining) In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.

6. (mining, obsolete) To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.
7. (obsolete) To dwell in a cave.

Derived terms

• block caving
• cave in
• cave out
• caver
• caving hammer

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin cavē, second-person singular present active imperative of caveō (“to beware”). Used at Eton College, Berkshire.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kāʹvē, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪvi/
  • Rhymes: -eɪvi
• Homophone: cavy

Interjection

cave

1. (British, school slang) look out!; beware!

Synonyms

• heads up, look out, watch it, see also Thesaurus:heads up

Derived terms

• keep cave

Translations

Anagrams

• evac

Etruscan

Romanization

cave

1. Romanization of 𐌂𐌀𐌅𐌄

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kav/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin cavus (“concave; cavity”).

Adjective

cave (plural caves)

1. pitted
2. concave
3. cavernous

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Late Latin cava, substantivized form of Latin cava, feminine of the adjective cavus.

Noun

cave f (plural caves)

1. a cellar or basement
2. (specifically) a wine cellar; or, a piece of furniture that serves the purpose of a wine cellar
3. (by extension) a wine selection
4. caves: An estate where wine grapes are grown or (especially) where wine is produced
5. cave à liqueurs: A chest for the storage of liquors

Derived terms

• cave à vin

Descendants

• → Portuguese: cave

Etymology 3

Probably from cavé, from the past participle of caver, a term used in games.

Noun

cave m (plural caves)

1. (slang) an imbecile, a stupid person

Further reading

• “cave”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• avec

Galician

Verb

cave

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.ve/
• Rhymes: -ave
• Hyphenation: cà‧ve

Adjective

cave

1. feminine plural of cavo

Noun

cave f

1. plural of cava

Anagrams

• Ceva

Latin

Verb

cavē

1. second-person singular present imperative of caveō
   • 1st century AD, Petronius, Satyricon

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French cave, from Latin cava.

Alternative forms

• caaf, cafe, kafe, kave

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaːv(ə)/

Noun

cave (plural caves)

1. A cave or cavern.
2. (by extension) An underground chamber.
3. A cavity; a hollow.

Descendants

• English: cave
• Scots: cave

References

• “cāve, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Verb

cave

1. Alternative form of caven

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

cave f (plural caves)

1. (Jersey) cave, cellar

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -avi, (Portugal) -avɨ
• Hyphenation: ca‧ve

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French cave.

Noun

cave f (plural caves)

1. cellar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cave

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

References

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkabe/ [ˈka.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -abe
• Syllabification: ca‧ve

Etymology 1

Deverbal from cavar.

Noun

cave m (plural caves)

1. (Ecuador) potato harvesting

Etymology 2

Verb

cave

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “cave”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10