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cavern

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A large cave or a large chamber in a cave.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kavern

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkævɚn

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A large cave or a large chamber in a cave

  2. Any large dark enclosed space

  3. A large, dark place or space.

  4. An underground chamber.

verb

  1. transitive

    To put into a cavern.

  2. transitive

    To form a cavern or deep depression in.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A large cave or a large chamber in a cave

Used this way, cavern is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use cavern

  • “His eyes were dark caverns.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Large

dark cavernlarge cavern

Underground

underground cavern

Cavern

deep cavern

Other combinations

great caverncavern floornatural cavernsmall cavern

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • cavern outverbCompound term

    Hollow out as if making a cavern.

  • carlsbad cavernsnounCompound term

    A group of caverns in southeastern New Mexico noted for their stalactites and stalagmites.

  • carlsbad caverns national parknounCompound term

    A national park in New Mexico featuring what is probably the world's largest cavern with spectacular underground formations.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.