cellar
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An enclosed underground space, often under a building, used for storage or shelter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sehlerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɛlɚ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A wine collection, especially when stored in a cellar.
An enclosed underground space, often under a building, used for storage or shelter.
Salt cellar
verb
transitive
To store (something, especially food or wine) in a cellar.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An enclosed underground space, often under a building, used for storage or shelter.
Used this way, cellar 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 cellar
- “We store old boxes and canned goods in our cool, dark cellar.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An underground shelter where you can go until a storm passes.
An excavation where root vegetables are stored.
An underground shelter where you can go until a storm passes.
An underground shelter where you can go until a storm passes.
Storage space where wines are stored.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.