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Webster 1913 Edition

Cave

Cave

(kāv)
,
Noun.
[F.
cave
, L.
cavus
hollow, whence
cavea
cavity. Cf.
Cage
.]
1.
A hollow place in the earth, either natural or artificial; a subterraneous cavity; a cavern; a den.
2.
Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.
[Obs.]
“The cave of the ear.”
Bacon.
Cave bear
(Zool.)
,
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
(Zool.)
,
a fossil hyena found abundanty in British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of the living African spotted hyena.
–
Cave lion
(Zool.)
,
a fossil lion found in the caves of Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African lion.
–
Bone cave
.
See under
Bone
.

Cave

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Caved
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Caving
.]
[Cf. F.
caver
. See
Cave
,
Noun.
]
To make hollow; to scoop out.
[Obs.]
The mouldred earth
cav’d
the banke.
Spenser.

Cave

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To dwell in a cave.
[Obs.]
Shak.
2.
[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
.
[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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cave

CAVE

,
Noun.
A hollow place in the earth; a subterraneous cavern; a den. This may be natural or artificial. The primitive inhabitants of the earth, in many countries, lived in caves; and the present inhabitants of some parts of the earth, especially in the high northern latitudes, occupy caves, particularly in winter.
Lot dwelt in a cave, he and his daughters. Gen. 19.
Caves were also used for the burial of the dead.
Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelab. Gen. 23.
Bacon applies the word to the ear, the cave of the ear; but this application is unusual.

CAVE

,
Verb.
T.
To make hollow.

CAVE

,
Verb.
I.
To dwell in a cave.
To cave in, to fall in and leave a hollow, as earth on the side of a well or pit. When in digging into the earth, the side is excavated by a falling of a quantity of earth, it is said to cave in.

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