cradle
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A baby bed with sides and rockers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
krayduhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɹeɪdəl
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 baby bed with sides and rockers
A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
figuratively
The place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence.
figuratively
Infancy, or very early life.
An implement consisting of a broad scythe for cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it evenly in a swath.
A framework of timbers, or iron bars, moving upon ways or rollers, used to support, lift, or carry ships or other vessels, heavy guns, etc., as up an inclined plane, or across a strip of land, or in launching a ship.
verb
transitive
To rock (a baby to sleep).
Hold gently and carefully
“He cradles the child in his arms.”
transitive
To wrap protectively, to hold gently and protectively.
To lull or quieten, as if by rocking.
To nurse or train in infancy.
To put ribs across the back of (a picture), to prevent the panels from warping.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A baby bed with sides and rockers
Used this way, cradle 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 cradle
- “He cradled the infant in his arms.”verb
- “He cradles the child in his arms.”verb
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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.
A dermatitis of the scalp that is common in infants.
A game played with string looped over the fingers.
Primitive elongated bilaterally symmetrical marine mollusk having a mantle covered with eight calcareous plates.
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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.