Word Direct Answers

What does "cave" mean?

Cave: Any hollow place, or part; a cavity. [Obs.] "The cave of the ear." Bacon. Cave bear (Zoöl.), a very large fossil bear (Ursus spelæus) similar to the grizzly bear, but large; common in European caves. -- Cave dweller, a savage of prehistoric times whose dwelling place was a cave. Tylor. -- Cave hyena (Zoöl.), a fossil hyena found abundanty in British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of the living African spotted hyena. -- Cave lion (Zoöl.), a fossil lion found in the caves of Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African lion. -- Bone cave. See under Bone.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To make hollow; to scoop out. [Obs.] The mouldred earth cav'd the banke. Spenser.
  2. 3.To dwell in a cave. [Obs.] Shak.
  3. 4.Etym: [See To cave in, below.] To fall in or down; as, the sand bank caved. Hence (Slang), to retreat from a position; to give way; to yield in a disputed matter. To cave in. Etym: [Flem. inkalven.] (a) To fall in and leave a hollow, as earth on the side of a well or pit. (b) To submit; to yield. [Slang] H. Kingsley.

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