cave

noun12

1. •
   a big natural space inside rock or earth, often large enough for people to walk into

   • We found a cave on the mountainside where we could take shelter.
2. •
   A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.

   • Every boy at one time or another has dug a cave; I suppose because ages and ages ago his ancestors had to live in caves, […] — 1918
3. •
   A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.

   • It was not strictly a cave, but a narrow fissure in the rock.
4. •
   A place of retreat, such as a man cave.

   • My room was a cozy cave where I could escape from my family.
5. •
   A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.

   • This wine has been aged in our cave for thirty years.
6. •
   A collapse or cave-in.

   • The "breasts" of marble which unite the opposite lateral walls have been left standing in order to prevent a possible cave of the wall on either side. — 1885
7. •
   (slang) A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.

   • Without joining the cave, Hyde had abstained both in December 1956 and May 1957. — 1964
8. •
   A code cave.

   • Once a code cave is created, you can execute it using either thread injection or thread hijacking. […] Additionally, you'd need to make sure that the cave properly cleans the stack. — 2016
9. •
   A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.

   • These potential radiation fields or radioactive material levels may be the result of normal operations (ie, radiation in a target cave) […] — 1986
10. •
    Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.

    • […] the casing can then be placed in the hole without encountering any cave and core drilling in rock can begin. — 1951
11. •
    (euphemistic, figurative) The vagina.

    • Then without a word she lay on her back in the bed, her dark blond pubic hair rising about her dark wet cave like dried brush about a hidden spring. — 1976
12. •
    (no longer used) Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.

verb7

1. •
   To collapse.

   • First the braces buckled, then the roof began to cave, then we ran.
2. •
   (figurative) To surrender.

   • He caved under pressure.
3. •
   In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.

   • The deposit is caved by knocking out the posts.
4. •
   To engage in the recreational exploration of caves.
5. •
   To hollow out or undermine.

   • The levee has been severely caved by the river current.
6. •
   (no longer used) To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.

   • As an indication of the miners' desperation in these years, the free miners of Wensley lowered themselves to caving for scraps of ore. — 1999
7. •
   (no longer used) To dwell in a cave.

   • although perhaps / It may be heard at court that such as we / Cave here, hunt here, are outlaws, and in time / May make some stronger head — 1611

exclamation1

1. •
   (UK) look out!; beware!

   • Ssh! Cave! Mum's the word! Not 'arf, or what? — 1989

noun1

1. •
   Acronym of citizens against virtually everything; people who oppose the construction of any type of structure.