Nearby Words
noun
1.
a collapse, as of anything hollow: the worst cave-in in the history of mining.
2.
a place or site of such a collapse.
3.
submission to something or someone previously opposed or resisted: His cave-in to such unreasonable demands shocked us.
Origin:
1700–10; noun use of verb phrase cave in
1700–10; noun use of verb phrase cave in
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Cave in
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
a hollow in the earth, especially one opening more or less horizontally into a hill, mountain, etc.
2.
a storage cellar, especially for wine.
3.
English History. a secession, or a group of seceders, from a political party on some special question.
verb (used with object)
4.
to hollow out.
5.
Mining.
a.
to cause (overlying material) to fall into a stope, sublevel, or the like.
b.
to cause (supports, as stulls or sets) to collapse beneath overlying material.
c.
to fill (a stope or the like) with caved-in material: sub-level caving.
verb (used without object)
Verb phrase6.
to cave in.
7.
cave in,
a.
to fall in; collapse.
b.
to cause to fall in or collapse.
c.
Informal. to yield; submit; surrender: The opposition caved in before our superior arguments.
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Late Latin cava (feminine singular), Latin cava, neuter plural of cavum hole, noun use of neuter of cavus hollow
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Late Latin cava (feminine singular), Latin cava, neuter plural of cavum hole, noun use of neuter of cavus hollow
Related forms
cave·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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|
Link To cave in
Collins
World English Dictionary
| cave in | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to collapse; subside |
| 2. | informal to yield completely, esp under pressure |
| —n | |
| 3. | the sudden collapse of a roof, piece of ground, etc, into a hollow beneath it; subsidence |
| 4. | the site of such a collapse, as at a mine or tunnel |
| 5. | informal an instance of yielding completely, esp under pressure |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
cave
1707, Amer.Eng., presumably from E.Anglian dial. calve "collapse, fall in," perhaps from Flem., infl. by cave (n.). Figurative sense of "yield to pressure" is from 1837.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
cave  (kāv) Pronunciation Key
A naturally occurring underground hollow or passage, especially one with an opening to the surface of the Earth. Caves can form through a variety of processes, including the dissolution of limestone by flowing water, the differential cooling of volcanic magma (which occurs when the outside surface of the lava cools, but the inside continues to flow downwards, forming a hollow tube), or the action of wind and waves along a rocky coast. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
cave in
-
Fall in, collapse, as in The earthquake made the walls cave in. [Early 1700s]
-
Give in, admit defeat, as in The prosecutor's questions soon made the witness cave in. [Early 1800s]
-
Collapse, faint, or die from exhaustion, as in After a twenty-mile hike I caved in. [Mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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