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Pothole vs Cavity - What's the difference?

pothole | cavity |

As nouns the difference between pothole and cavity

is that pothole is a shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic or pothole can be (archaeology) a pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure hunters or vandals while cavity is a hole or hollow depression.

pothole

English

Etymology 1

c 1826, from (etyl) + (hole)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.
  • A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
  • * The earliest ideas on the creation of potholes''' are that they were associated with "moulins de glacier" (glacier mills) formed where surface streams on glaciers and ice sheets fall into holes in the ice. Water entering these surficial holes was believed to impact on the bedrock beneath creating a large '''pothole'''. The "Moulin Hypothesis", first suggested in 1874, continued to be accepted by many authors until the 1950s. However, commencing in the 1930s, other authors have suggested dissatisfaction with the moulin hypothesis, largely on the grounds that it failed to explain how ice could remain stable long enough for the "giant" '''potholes''' to form and why many '''potholes (like those at Rockwood) were present in large numbers. Grand River Conservation Authority (Canada) Newsletter of May-June 2002.
  • (geology) A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
  • Synonyms
    * (large pit in the bed of a stream) giant kettle
    Derived terms
    * potholing

    See also

    * sinkhole

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaeology) A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure hunters or vandals.
  • cavity

    English

    Noun

    (cavities)
  • A hole or hollow depression.
  • A hollow area within the body (such as the sinuses).
  • (dentistry) A soft area in a decayed tooth.
  • Synonyms

    * See also * (dentistry)

    Derived terms

    * buccal cavity * cavity back * cavity batten * cavity coupling * cavity fill * cavity filter * cavity impedence * cavity magnetron * cavity oscillator * cavity radiator * cavity resonance * cavity tray * cavity tuning * cavity vent * cavity wall * oral cavity