Cave
Cave (kāv) , noun
[French cave, Latin cavus hollow, whence cavea cavity. Compare Cage.]
1.
A hollow place in the earth, either natural or artificial; a subterraneous cavity; a cavern; a den.
2.
Any hollow place, or part; a cavity. [Obsolete]
The cave of the ear.
3.
(Eng. Politics) A coalition or group of seceders from a political party, as from the Liberal party in England in 1866. See Adullam, Cave of, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
Collocations (5)
Cave bear (Zoology) , a very large fossil bear (Ursus spelaus) similar to the grizzly bear, but large; common in European caves.
Cave dweller , a savage of prehistoric times whose dwelling place was a cave. — Tylor
Cave hyena (Zoology) , a fossil hyena found abundanty in British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of the living African spotted hyena.
Cave lion (Zoology) , a fossil lion found in the caves of Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African lion.
Bone cave , See under Bone.
Cave , transitive verb
[Compare French caver. See Cave, n.]
To make hollow; to scoop out. [Obsolete]
The mouldred earth cav'd the banke.
Cave , intransitive verb
1.
To dwell in a cave. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
2.
To fall in or down; as, the sand bank caved. Hence (Slang), to retreat from a position; to give way; to yield in a disputed matter.
Collocations (1)
To cave in , (a) To fall in and leave a hollow, as earth on the side of a well or pit. (b) To submit; to yield. [Slang] — H. Kingsley