Category:Cave

In other languages, the word for "cave" is: Chamorro: bokungo'

Cave, n. Etym: [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 (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.

cave Cave, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Caved; p. pr. & vb. n. Caving.] Etym: [Cf. F. caver. See Cave, n.]

Defn: To make hollow; to scoop out. [Obs.] The mouldred earth cav'd the banke. Spenser.

cave Cave, v. i.

1. To dwell in a cave. [Obs.] Shak.

2. Etym: [See To cave in, below.]

Defn: 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.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Cave - There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria, many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes. The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot (Genesis 19:30). The next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (Genesis 25:9, Genesis 25:10). It was the burying-place of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Genesis 49:31; Genesis 50:13). The cave of Makkedah, into which the five Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua (Joshua 10:16, Joshua 10:27). The cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid himself from Saul (1 Samuel 22:1, 1 Samuel 22:2). The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called 'Ain Jidy, i.e., the "Fountain of the Kid", where David cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (1 Samuel 24:4). Here he also found a shelter for himself and his followers to the number of 600 (1 Samuel 23:29; 1 Samuel 24:1). "On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day." The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets (1 Kings 18:4) was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified. The cave of Elijah (1 Kings 19:9), and the "cleft" of Moses on Horeb (Exodus 33:22), cannot be determined. In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain regions of Manasseh (Judges 6:2). Caves were frequently used as dwelling-places (Numbers 24:21; Song of Songs 2:14; Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:3). "The excavations at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites," the ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also sometimes used as prisons (Isaiah 24:22; Isaiah 51:14; Zechariah 9:11). Those which had niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places (Ezekiel 32:23; John 11:38).