cavern
/ˈkævən/ (bre, ipa) · [kˈævɚn] /ˈkævərn/ (ame, ipa) · [kˈævɚn] /ˈka-vərn How to pronounce cavern (audio) also -vrən/ (ame, mw)
cavern — noun
1. a large natural underground space, often found inside hills or mountains, usuall
a large natural underground space, often found inside hills or mountains, usually formed by water dissolving rock over a very long time
Ananya crawled through a narrow tunnel into a vast cavern lit by glow-worms.
collocation: vast cavern
The river carved a deep cavern beneath the limestone cliff over thousands of years.
Keiko pointed her torch at the cavern ceiling, where bats hung in tight clusters.
Imani stepped inside a cavern whose ceiling rose higher than any cathedral she had ever seen.
Fatima's voice echoed through the cavern, bouncing off every rocky wall.
用法筆記
More formal and descriptive than the everyday word "cave." Use "cavern" when emphasising that the space is impressively large.
常見錯誤
cavern — verb
- cavernpresent simple I / you / we / they
- caverns3rd person singular
- caverning-ing form
- cavernedpast simple
1. to put someone or something into a large cave, or to shut them away as if inside
to put someone or something into a large cave, or to shut them away as if inside one
The cavers were caverned underground when a sudden rockfall sealed the only way out.
Three miners were caverned by the tunnel collapse and waited twelve hours for rescue.
Two hikers had been caverned inside a narrow gorge by a sudden cliff fall.
After three days underground, two hikers who had been caverned by a sudden landslide were finally found alive.
文法句型
cavern + [someone/something]
用法筆記
Rare, literary verb. Most commonly appears in the passive voice ("were caverned," "had been caverned") to describe people trapped underground by a natural event.
2. to wear away or dig out rock and earth over time to form a large cave
to wear away or dig out rock and earth over time to form a large cave
Over millennia, the river beneath the Yucatán Peninsula caverned the limestone into chambers the size of cathedrals.
collocation: caverned into
The Colorado River had slowly caverned the canyon wall from within over centuries, carving deep alcoves along the waterline.
Relentless desert winds caverned the sandstone cliffs of Wadi Rum into chambers tall enough to stand inside.
In the late 1800s, prospectors caverned the slopes of Bisbee, Arizona, chasing a rich vein of copper ore.
文法句型
cavern + [rock/earth]
用法筆記
Rare verb. The subject is usually a natural force (water, wind) or a mining operation; the object is the rock or earth being hollowed out.