Definition of CAVERN

Synonyms for cavern

Synonyms: Noun

Examples of cavern in a Sentence

Noun

a cavern with beautiful stalactites

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

After nine long days of tireless efforts by the Royal Thai Navy, aided by at least seven foreign governments, they were discovered on a dry ledge several miles inside the cavern by a pair of British divers. — Time, "'I Love You Mom, I Love You Dad.' Trapped Thai Soccer Team Sends Handwritten Notes From the Cave," 8 July 2018 Cave rescuers in the Southeast have watched with apprehension and relief as the 12 boys trapped in a Thailand cavern have been extricated, one by one. — Bo Emerson, ajc, "Cave rescuers in Southeast watch their Thai colleagues with admiration," 10 July 2018 In 1993, a cavern at Cliff Cave County Park near St. Louis flooded during a thunderstorm, killing four children and two adults. — John Keilman, chicagotribune.com, "As Thailand cave crisis continues, Midwestern cavers reflect on the risks of going subterranean," 6 July 2018 The soccer team is believed to have walked at least 3 miles and reached a large cavern known as Pattaya Beach. — Richard C. Paddock, BostonGlobe.com, "Thailand cave rescue effort to continue, prime minister tells families," 29 June 2018 Around the world, ramblers and cave explorers often stumble across new caverns, and sinkholes open up without warning on suburban streets. — Jake Maxwell Watts, WSJ, "What Lies Beneath? Vague Mapping Complicates Thai Cave Rescue," 8 July 2018 Geologists placed tracer dyes in the underground rivers and learned the cavern aquifer extends 4 miles east to White Oak Sinks, in the isolated valley of Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near the North Carolina line. — John Bordsen, USA TODAY, "North Korean nukes tracked from Tennessee tourist caverns," 13 Apr. 2018 After they were located deep in the cavern, Decker reached out to one of the officials leading rescue efforts and got authorization to dispatch his team. — Dan Murtaugh, The Seattle Times, "U.S. firm helps Thais to pump water from cave to save boys," 9 July 2018 Late Friday, Thai officials were still trying to come up with a workable extraction plan for the group trapped for nearly two weeks deep inside the cavern, stoking fears that all available options remain too risky. — Shibani Mahtani, chicagotribune.com, "Cave rescue stalls as death of Thai diver underscores perils," 7 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

In the hunt, scientists have erected detectors in a South Dakota cavern a mile underground, at the bottom of Lake Baikal in Siberia, under a mountain in Japan, and on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. — Robert Lee Hotz, WSJ, "Scientists Track Neutrinos Through Ice to Their Source in the Cosmos," 12 July 2018

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

History and Etymology for cavern

Noun

Middle English caverne, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin caverna "hollow space, crevice, tree hole, cave," from cavus "hollow, sunken" + -erna, noun-forming suffix of uncertain origin — more at hole entry 1

Verb