Definition of CAVERN

Examples of cavern in a Sentence

Noun

a cavern with beautiful stalactites

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

In Thwaites’ case, that radar uncovered a gigantic cavern between the glacier itself and the bedrock below it. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "NASA Found a Giant Underground Cavern in Antarctica Almost the Size of Manhattan," 31 Jan. 2019 Kelly Macdonald as Agnes, who discovers she’s a puzzle prodigy Photo: Sony Pictures Classics He has been written sketchily, an inventor of great wealth who lives alone in a beautiful cavern of a Manhattan apartment. — Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, "‘Puzzle’ Review: Less Than the Sum of Its Pieces," 25 July 2018 MoEDAL shares an underground cavern with part of the big-budget, house-sized experiment dubbed the LHCb. — Adam Hadhazy, Discover Magazine, "Scientists Hunt for A Seeming Paradox: A Magnet With Only One Pole," 13 Nov. 2018 Antonio Godoli and Nicola Santini, architects of the reinstallation, have given them new frames, which are not hung on the walls but built into them, entombed in caverns that are beveled on all sides. — Cammy Brothers, WSJ, "Extreme Makeover: Renaissance Edition," 1 Aug. 2018 Like during the recovery of Glacier Girl, the team will use large heat plates to tunnel down to the aircraft, then send workers down clear out a cavern around the plan with blasts of hot water. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "WWII P-38 Discovered Under 300 Feet of Ice in Greenland," 27 July 2018 Luray Caverns Luray Caverns are the largest caverns in the Eastern United States and a National Historic Landmark. — Laura Ratliff, Condé Nast Traveler, "3 Best Day Trips from Washington, D.C.," 24 July 2018 There are natural wonders, like caverns and natural bridges and lookouts along the way, but make time for a few stops in this welcoming part of the state. — Laura Ratliff, Condé Nast Traveler, "3 Best Day Trips from Washington, D.C.," 24 July 2018 The Verge explores the latest developments in energy storage, from those giant batteries to infinitely spinning flywheels to bottling gas in underground caverns. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "Why the future of the power grid depends on giant batteries," 14 Aug. 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