cache

noun \ ˈkash \

|Updated on: 17 Aug 2018

Examples: cache in a Sentence

Editor's Note: cash and cache

Definition of cache

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

See cache defined for English-language learners

See cache defined for kids

Examples of cache in a Sentence

a weapons cache used by terrorists
Police found a cache of stolen cars in the woods.
Her new laptop has one megabyte of cache.

Recent Examples of cache from the Web

Since then, many of us haven’t had cache-clearing sleep on a regular basis.

— walton muyumba, latimes.com, "Detachment and dreaming in 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh," 12 July 2018
Last year, police uncovered one cache of contraband bees worth close to $1 million.

— thor hanson, WSJ, "The Plight of the Humble Bee," 29 June 2018
Massive leaks of user databases that are accidentally left accessible on the public internet have nearly reached epidemic status, affecting everything from health information to password caches stored by software firms.

— andy greenberg, WIRED, "Marketing Firm Exactis Leaked a Personal Info Database With 340 Million Records," 27 June 2018
Here’s a hypothetical example for future potential: a team of Navy SEALs needs to covertly insert into a hostile territory via an enemy coastline to destroy a chemical weapons cache before it can be used on U.S. ground troops.

— allison barrie, Fox News, "Futuristic mini-sub could be a valuable weapon for Navy SEALs," 7 June 2018
That assertion was reinforced this week by a cache of documents reviewed by The Baltimore Sun that showed state officials at the time raising concerns internally about the redistricting process.

— john fritze, baltimoresun.com, "Supreme Court to hear arguments in Maryland 'gerrymandering' case," 28 Mar. 2018
Archaeologists in Sudan have uncovered a large cache of rare stone inscriptions at the Sedeinga necropolis along the Nile River.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Large Cache of Texts May Offer Insight Into One of Africa’s Oldest Written Languages," 13 Apr. 2018
According to Israeli media reports, a cache of bronze coins from that time was found in 2014 in a village near Jerusalem and more were unearthed in a cave by the Temple Mount in 2018, from the second and fourth years of the rebellion.

— yori yalon, Jewish Journal, "Rare coin minted 1,900 years ago discovered in Jerusalem," 5 July 2018
To her, the job of a creative director is to offer the brand an it-factor or a cache of coolness.

— refinery29.com, "Before Virgil Abloh, There Was Ozwald Boateng," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cache.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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.

Origin and Etymology of cache

French, from cacher to press, hide, from Vulgar Latin *coacticare to press together, from Latin coactare to compel, frequentative of cogere to compel — more at cogent

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1797

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

cache Synonyms

Synonyms

hoard, stash, stockpile, store;

inventory, pool, reserve, reservoir, stock;

provisions, resources;

accumulation, assemblage, collection, gathering, harvest;

repertory;

cache

verb

Definition of cache

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

Examples of cache in a Sentence

an eccentric who cached money in odd places, such as under the boards of the floor
cached the fugitive slaves in their cellar until they could make their way to Canada

Recent Examples of cache from the Web

Google Chrome on Android is getting a new feature that will automatically download relevant news articles when connected to Wi-Fi, which should help cache articles for offline reading, the company announced yesterday.

— shannon liao, The Verge, "Google Chrome on Android can now cache news articles on Wi-Fi for offline reading," 22 June 2018
That includes making noise so as not to surprise bears, not allowing bears to get into human food, and staying away from food bears have cached, Harms said.

— casey grove, Anchorage Daily News, "Troopers: Man dead in bear attack near Delta Junction," 7 June 2013
Beavers Beavers build dams to create still water for their underwater homes, called lodges, where the rodents cache food for the winter.

— brian gordon green, National Geographic, "Why a Squirrel Stashed 50 Pounds of Pine Cones in a Car," 9 June 2018
The page is no longer there, but Google cached a copy of the site on January 3.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "We found a deleted page that reveals the paparazzi roots of Kodak Coin," 10 Jan. 2018
The snafu rendered the files, which were cached by Google, to be publicly exposed and viewed by anyone without a password.

— sam wood, Philly.com, "After mom's gyno records found online, South Jersey docs to pay $418 million for data breach," 4 Apr. 2018
Responding officers found a small container with a pink eraser and geo-caching sign-in sheet inside the base.

— andy attina / cleveland.com, cleveland.com, "Woman takes back her vehicle from repo driver: Highland Heights Police Blotter," 4 Apr. 2018
None of the new Coffee Lake cheap chips support Intel's nifty Optane Memory technology, which caches a hard drive with a much faster Optane Memory module.

— gordon mah ung, PCWorld, "Budget gamers: You can get some Intel Coffee Lake chips for as little as $42," 4 Apr. 2018
Your California Privacy Rights The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Condé Nast.

— Condé Nast Traveler, "How to Cruise Now," 1 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of cache

see ¹cache

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1805

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

cache Synonyms

CACHE Defined for English Language Learners

cache

noun

Definition of cache for English Language Learners

: a group of things that have been hidden in a secret place because they are illegal or have been stolen
: a part of a computer's memory where information is kept so that the computer can find it very quickly