crater Hear it!

crater definition

cra·ter (krāt′ər)

noun

  1. in ancient Greece or Rome, a kind of large bowl or jar shaped like an amphora
  2. a bowl-shaped cavity, as at the mouth of a volcano or geyser
  3. a pit resembling this, specif. one caused by a bomb or by the impact of a meteorite, as on the moon
  4. Astron. a S constellation between Hydra and Corvus

Etymology: L, mixing bowl, mouth of a volcano < Gr kratēr < kerannynai, to mix: see idiosyncrasy

transitive verb

to make craters in

intransitive verb

to form craters

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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