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cradle

 - 9 dictionary results
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cra⋅dle

  [kreyd-l] noun, verb, -dled, -dling.
Use cradle in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small bed for an infant, usually on rockers.
2. any of various supports for objects set horizontally, as the support for the handset of a telephone.
3. the place where anything is nurtured during its early existence: Boston was the cradle of the American Revolution.
4. Agriculture.
a. a frame of wood with a row of long curved teeth projecting above and parallel to a scythe, for laying grain in bunches as it is cut.
b. a scythe together with the cradle in which it is set.
5. a wire or wicker basket used to hold a wine bottle in a more or less horizontal position while the wine is being served.
6. Artillery. the part of a gun carriage on which a recoiling gun slides.
7. a landing platform for ferryboats, rolling on inclined tracks to facilitate loading and unloading at different water levels.
8. Aeronautics. a docklike structure in which a rigid or semirigid airship is built or is supported during inflation.
9. Automotive. creeper (def. 5).
10. Nautical.
a. a shaped support for a boat, cast, etc.; chock.
b. truss (def. 9).
11. Shipbuilding.
a. a moving framework on which a hull slides down the ways when launched.
b. a built-up form on which plates of irregular form are shaped.
12. Medicine/Medical. a frame that prevents the bedclothes from touching an injured part of a bedridden patient.
13. Mining. a box on rockers for washing sand or gravel to separate gold or other heavy metal.
14. an engraver's tool for laying mezzotint grounds.
15. Painting. a structure of wooden strips attached to the back of a panel, used as a support and to prevent warping.
–verb (used with object)
16. to hold gently or protectively.
17. to place or rock in or as in an infant's cradle.
18. to nurture during infancy.
19. to receive or hold as a cradle.
20. to cut (grain) with a cradle.
21. to place (a vessel) on a cradle.
22. Mining. to wash (sand or gravel) in a cradle; rock.
23. Painting. to support (a panel) with a cradle.
–verb (used without object)
24. to lie in or as if in a cradle.
25. to cut grain with a cradle scythe.
—Idiom
26. rob the cradle, Informal. to marry, court, or date a person much younger than oneself.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME cradel, OE cradol; akin to OHG cratto basket

Related forms:
cradler, noun

Synonyms:
3. birthplace, fountain, font, wellspring.
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creep⋅er

  [kree-per]
–noun
1. a person or thing that creeps.
2. Botany. a plant that grows upon or just beneath the surface of the ground, or upon any other surface, sending out rootlets from the stem, as ivy and couch grass.
3. Often, creepers. a one-piece garment for an infant, the lower portion resembling briefs and having snaps or buttons across the crotch for convenience in diapering.
4. Chiefly Northeastern U.S. a spiked iron plate worn on the shoe to prevent slipping on ice, rock, etc.
5. Also called cradle. Automotive. a flat framework on casters, on which a mechanic lies while working under an automobile or the like.
6. Ornithology. any of various birds that creep or climb about on trees, esp. of the family Certhiidae, as Certhia americana (brown creeper or tree creeper), of the Northern Hemisphere.
7. a domestic fowl having malformed, short legs, due to a genetic defect.
8. a grappling device for dragging a river, lake, etc.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME crepere, OE crēopere. See creep, -er 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cradle
cra·dle   (krād'l)   
n.  

  1. A small low bed for an infant, often furnished with rockers.

    1. The earliest period of life: had an interest in music almost from the cradle.

    2. A place of origin; a birthplace: the cradle of civilization.

    3. A framework of wood or metal used to support something, such as a ship undergoing construction or repair.

    4. A framework used to protect an injured limb.

    5. A frame projecting above a scythe, used to catch grain as it is cut so that it can be laid flat.

    6. A scythe equipped with such a frame.

    1. A framework of wood or metal used to support something, such as a ship undergoing construction or repair.

    2. A framework used to protect an injured limb.

    3. A frame projecting above a scythe, used to catch grain as it is cut so that it can be laid flat.

    4. A scythe equipped with such a frame.

  4. A low flat framework that rolls on casters, used by a mechanic working beneath an automobile. Also called creeper.

  5. The part of a telephone that contains the connecting switch upon which the receiver and mouthpiece unit is supported.

    1. A frame projecting above a scythe, used to catch grain as it is cut so that it can be laid flat.

    2. A scythe equipped with such a frame.

  7. A boxlike device furnished with rockers, used for washing gold-bearing dirt.

v.   cra·dled, cra·dling, cra·dles

v.   tr.

    1. To place or retain in or as if in a cradle.

    2. To care for or nurture in infancy.

    3. To hold or support protectively: cradled the cat in his arms.

  2. To reap (grain) with a cradle.

  3. To place or support (a ship, for example) in a cradle.

  4. To wash (gold-bearing dirt) in a cradle.

v.   intr. Obsolete
To lie in or as if in a cradle.

[Middle English cradel, from Old English.]
cra'dler n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cradle 
O.E. cradol "little bed," from P.Gmc. *kradulas "basket." Cat's cradle is from 1768. Cradle-snatching "amorous pursuit of younger person" is 1925, U.S. slang.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cra·dle
Pronunciation: 'krAd-&l
Function: noun
1 : a bed or cot for a baby usually on rockers or pivots
2a : a frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with an injured part of the body b : a frame placed on the neck of an animal to keep it from biting an injury or sore

Main Entry: creep·er
Pronunciation: 'krE-p&r
Function: noun
1 : a genetic anomaly of the domestic fowl marked by shortening and thickeningof the long bones in the heterozygote and completely lethal when homozygous
2 : CREEPER FOWL
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

cradle cra·dle (krād'l)
n.

  1. A small low bed for an infant, often furnished with rockers.

  2. A frame used to keep the bedclothes from pressing on an injured part.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

cradle

see from the cradle to the grave; rob the cradle.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

cradle

in furniture, infant's bed of wood, wicker, or iron, having enclosed sides and suspended from a bar, slung upon pivots, or mounted on rockers. The rocking motion of the cradle is intended to lull the infant to sleep. The cradle is an ancient type of furniture, and its origins are unknown. Early cradles developed from hollowed-out tree trunks to oblong, lidless wood boxes, originally with apparently detachable rockers. Later cradles were paneled and carved, supported on pillars, inlaid, or mounted in gilded bronze.

Learn more about cradle with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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