cabin

1 of 2

noun

cab·​in ˈka-bən How to pronounce cabin (audio)
1
a(1)
: a private room on a ship or boat
(2)
: a compartment below deck on a boat used for living accommodations
b
: the passenger or cargo compartment of a vehicle (such as an airplane or automobile)
c
: the crew compartment of an exploratory vehicle (such as a spacecraft)
2
: a small one-story dwelling usually of simple construction
3
chiefly British : cab sense 3

cabin

2 of 2

verb

cabined; cabining; cabins

intransitive verb

: to live in or as if in a cabin

transitive verb

: confine, restrain
significantly cabins the discretion of administratorsA. M. Dershowitz

Examples of cabin in a Sentence

Noun a cabin in the woods Don't unbuckle your seat belt until the flight attendant says it is safe to move around the cabin.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Just after the crack of dawn, a few dozen late-teens and twentysomethings stumble from modest cabins into the cafeteria for coffee and a hot breakfast. Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2023 Enjoy the Georgia sunset from the porch of this three-bedroom cabin with a hot tub and pool table, bring the whole family to a riverfront abode on the Toccoa River, or plan the ultimate relaxation weekend at an A-frame home with picturesque mountain views. Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 21 Sep. 2023 Decades ago, airlines used to board first class and use an open boarding process for the main cabin. Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 16 Sep. 2023 Pilots are trained to respond to a loss of cabin pressure by descending to an altitude that is low enough for people on board to breathe without oxygen masks. Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2023 The rows of white canvas cabin tents newly erected in an out-of-the-way quarter of Culver City, along the bank of Ballona Creek, have the ambiance of an Army field base. Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023 The itinerary noted that DeSantis needed to wear a jacket and tie for dinner and would stay the night in the club’s Eisenhower room, a cabin built for the 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a club member, and marked with the presidential seal above the door. Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Sep. 2023 More real estate news • Portland homes for sale with alluring landscapes • Steiner cabin on Mount Hood’s Zigzag River for sale at $595,000 • These Portland homes for sale come with green certifications and low utility bills • Want to change the front door? Jeastman, oregonlive, 13 Sep. 2023 The renovations include tearing down the lakefront cabins, including Monroe’s No. 3 abode, and building new ones. Alexandra E. Petri, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023
Verb
This is part of a series of cases where the Supreme Court has basically cabined the ability of a president to act unilaterally. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 1 July 2023 From pilots’ flying time to cabin pressure, from safety inspections to public reporting of data, regulators have stayed on the airlines beat. Dallas News, 7 Feb. 2022 The Court tried to cabin criminal liability under the law in Skilling, but now prosecutors want to expand it again. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 25 Nov. 2022 Approaching parents and children with kindness, and escalating the matter to cabin crew only as a last resort is usually the best approach. Bobby Laurie, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 July 2022 Other, more furtive radiations get swallowed up by the energetic noise-canceling audioware, which uses data from wheel sensors and cabin microphones to identify and produce the nulling frequencies. Dan Neil, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2022 Should cabin crew wear full protective clothing, such as body suits and face shields? Angus Whitley, Fortune, 22 Dec. 2021 Over 500 members of British staff applied to take part, 125 appear, from Helen Wetton, a captain on the British Airways 777 fleet to cabin crew and baggage handlers, all showing them making their way back to work. Sarah Turner, Forbes, 6 May 2021 Still, those comments were overshadowed by her earlier effort to cabin Five Eyes operations from other issues. Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 26 Apr. 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cabin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English cabane, from Middle French, from Old Occitan cabana hut, from Medieval Latin capanna

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

1586, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of cabin was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near cabin

Cite this Entry

“Cabin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabin. Accessed 29 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

cabin

noun
cab·​in
ˈkab-ən
1
a
: a small private room on a ship
b
: a compartment below deck on a small boat for passengers or crew
c
: a compartment (as in an airplane, airship, or spacecraft) for cargo, crew, or passengers
2
: a small simple dwelling usually having only one story

More from Merriam-Webster on cabin

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