Library / 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)

Credits

 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)