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Sinkhole vs Cave - What's the difference?

sinkhole | cave |

As nouns the difference between sinkhole and cave

is that sinkhole is a hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage while cave is a large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground, or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.

As a verb cave is

to surrender.

As an interjection cave is

look out!; beware.

As a proper noun Cave is

{{surname}.

sinkhole

English

(wikipedia sinkhole)

Alternative forms

* sink hole

Noun

  • (geology) A hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage
  • A depressed area in which waste or drainage collects.
  • (pinball) A hole in the playfield that rewards the player when the ball is guided into it.
  • * 1997 , Windows magazine (volume 8, issues 1-3)
    • Pro Pinball is as authentic as pinball has ever been on the PC. It's all here, from the ramps, bumpers and sinkholes to the satisfying "clack" when you make the high-score list.
  • (internet) A DNS server that has been configured to hand out non-routeable addresses for all domains, so that every computer that uses it will fail to get access to the real website.

    • Synonyms

    * cenote, doline, kettle hole, shakehole, sink, swallet, swallow hole

    cave

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl), from (etyl) ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground, or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.
  • * , chapter=16
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.
  • * {{quote-book, 1918, Edward Alfred Steiner, Uncle Joe's Lincoln citation
    • , passage=Every boy at one time or another has dug a cave ; I suppose because ages and ages ago his ancestors had to live in caves,
  • A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.
  • A place of retreat, such as a man cave.
  • (caving) A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.
  • (nuclear physics) A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.
  • * {{quote-book, 1986, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Radiation Alarms and Access Control Systems, page=45 citation
    • , passage=These potential radiation fields or radioactive material levels may be the result of normal operations (ie, radiation in a target cave )
  • (drilling, uncountable) Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.
  • * {{quote-book, 1951, James Deans Cumming, Diamond Drill Handbook, page=134 citation
    • , passage=
  • (mining) A collapse or cave-in.
  • * {{quote-book, 1885, (Angelo Heilprin), Town Geology: The Lesson of the Philadelphia Rocks, page=79 citation
    • , passage=The "breasts" of marble which unite the opposite lateral walls have been left standing in order to prevent a possible cave of the wall on either side.}}
  • The vagina.
  • * {{quote-book, 1976, (Chester Himes), My Life of Absurdity, page=59 citation
    • , passage=Then without a word she lay on her back in the bed, her dark blond pubic hair rising about her dark wet cave like dried brush about a hidden spring.}}
  • A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.
  • * {{quote-book, 1964, Leon D. Epstein, British Politics in the Suez Crisis, page=125 citation
    • , passage=Without joining the cave , Hyde had abstained both in December 1956 and May 1957.}}
  • (obsolete) Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • the cave of the ear
    Synonyms
    *
    Derived terms
    * caveman * cave painting * cavewoman

    Verb

    (cav)
  • To surrender.
    • He caved under pressure.
  • To collapse.
    • First the braces buckled, then the roof began to cave , then we ran.
  • To hollow out or undermine.
    • The levee has been severely caved by the river current.
  • To engage in the recreational exploration of caves; to spelunk.
    • I have caved from Yugoslavia to Kentucky.
    Let's go caving this weekend.
  • (mining) In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.
    • The deposit is caved by knocking out the posts.
  • (mining, obsolete) To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.
  • * {{quote-book, 1999, Andy Wood, The Politics of Social Conflict: The Peak Country, 1520-1770, page=319 citation
    • , passage=As an indication of the miners' desperation in these years, the free miners of Wensley lowered themselves to caving for scraps of ore. }}
  • (obsolete) To dwell in a cave.
    • (Shakespeare)
    Derived terms
    * block caving * cave in * caver * caving hammer

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (British, public school slang) look out!; beware!

    • Anagrams

    * ----