cache

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: a hiding place especially for concealing and preserving provisions or implements
b
: a secure place of storage
discovered a cache of weapons
2
: something hidden or stored in a cache
The cache consisted of documents and private letters.
3
: a computer memory with very short access time used for storage of frequently or recently used instructions or data

called also cache memory

cache

2 of 2

verb

cached; caching

transitive verb

: to place (something) in a cache: such as
a
: to place or store (something) in a hidden or secure place for safety or concealment
cache camp supplies by a lake
coins cached in a teapot
b
computers : to place (instructions or data) in cache memory for temporary storage
caching websites to speed up future retrieval

Did you know?

Cash and Cache

Cache and cash are homophones (words that are pronounced alike but have different meanings, origins, or spelling) whose likeness in sound may lead to perplexity.

Cache primarily refers to a thing that is hidden or stored somewhere, or to the place where it is hidden. It has recently taken on another common meaning, “short-term computer memory where information is stored for easy retrieval.” Cash, on the other hand, is most often used in the sense “ready money.”

If you find yourself confused by these words, remember that you can store cash in a cache, but you can't do the reverse. Be mindful, too, that if you run out of cash you won't be able to buy something, but if you're short on cache, your computer won’t work.

Examples of cache in a Sentence

Noun a weapons cache used by terrorists Police found a cache of stolen cars in the woods. Her new laptop has one megabyte of cache. Verb an eccentric who cached money in odd places, such as under the boards of the floor cached the fugitives in their cellar until they could make their way to Canada
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Test cricket still holds cache for now, essentially among the 'big three' countries, while T20 cricket is the growth engine of the sport and its three-hour speed appeals to a younger generation with shorter attention spans. Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 Although this strategy leaves more caches for pilferers to find, each cache’s smaller size eliminates the risk that the squirrels will lose their entire stash in one go. Emma Bryce, Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2023 Israel has responded with retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah cells, outposts, and weapons caches. Neri Zilber, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Nov. 2023 This will not be a simple undertaking, especially given the terrorist group’s cowardly practice of hiding behind Palestinian human shields by tucking its offices, and even its arms caches and rocket launchers, into places that are particularly dense with civilians. Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 31 Oct. 2023 Even for those of us with a skeptical disposition, the cache of symbols, metaphors, narratives, and characters which demonology offers remains some of the most powerful ways of discussing subjects ranging from why evil exists to how justice should be realized. TIME, 28 Oct. 2023 This underworld of passageways, arms caches and escape routes beneath Gaza may prove even more terrifying now. Ilan Ben Zion, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023 That band’s biggest hits have endured, while Gwen Stefani still has plenty of cultural cache thanks to The Voice and her solo career. Josh Glicksman, Billboard, 31 Oct. 2023 Martian visits confirmed the origin of mystery meteorites on Earth Among the thousands of meteorites in the scientific cache on Earth, a tiny fraction of them stand out from the crowd. Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2023
Verb
The Perseverance rover has already cached 10 of these samples. Chris Impey, Discover Magazine, 27 Oct. 2023 And because cloud gaming is a real-time activity that requires minimal latency, Stadia cannot rely on common techniques such as offline encoding of video files, caching video content in advance along the network path, or taking advantage of video client buffers to smooth out network glitches. IEEE Spectrum, 22 July 2019 No, wolves do not cache their kills like mountain lions do. Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 23 Aug. 2023 Apart from that, technology solutions such as server-side rendering, caching, lightweight frameworks and pruning plugins will go a long way. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023 Jays are said to cache a kabillion nuts, give or take, every winter, and unerringly remember the location of each one. Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Apr. 2023 In both incidents, officials caught Rae collecting and caching elk antlers inside Bridger-Teton National Forest boundaries during a closed season. Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 24 Apr. 2023 Leverage Caching One of the most effective ways to speed up a website is by leveraging caching. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023 To continue their research into robot deception, Arkin and his team were inspired by the food caching behaviors of squirrels. IEEE Spectrum, 3 Dec. 2012 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cache.' 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

borrowed from North American French, from French, "hiding place," noun derivative of cacher "to hide, conceal," going back to Old French cachier, quaichier "to put away, lock up, cover, remove from view, conceal" (also Middle French cacher "to press, crush"), going back to Vulgar Latin *coācticāre "to press, constrict," from Latin coāctāre "to compel" (frequentative of cōgere "to drive together, collect, compress, compel") + -icāre, verb formative — more at cogent

Note: The etymological sense "to compress, constrict" is not attested for the Old French verb, though it likely existed and is apparent in the prefixed form escachier "to crush and flatten, break by pressing or falling on." From the sense "compress" presumably developed the senses "lock up, cover, put away," and hence "remove from view, conceal," common from the sixteenth century. The sense "to press, crush" is marginally evident in Middle French in areas in contact with Occitan, though it penetrated widely enough to form the basis for the derivative cachet "seal" (see cachet).

Verb

verbal derivative of cache entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1797, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1805, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cache was in 1797

Dictionary Entries Near cache

Cite this Entry

“Cache.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cache. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

cache

1 of 2 noun
1
: a place for hiding, storing, or preserving treasure or supplies
2
: something hidden or stored in a cache
3
: a computer memory with very short access time

cache

2 of 2 verb
cached; caching
: to hide or store in a cache

More from Merriam-Webster on cache

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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