cache

[ kash ]

noun

1. a hiding place, especially one in the ground, for ammunition, food, treasures, etc.:

   She hid her jewelry in a little cache in the cellar.

2. anything so hidden:

   The enemy never found our cache of food.

   Synonyms: store, reserve, stockpile, hoard

3. Also called cache storage. Computers. a temporary storage space or memory that allows fast access to data:

   Web browser cache;

   CPU cache.

4. Alaska and Northern Canada. a small shed elevated on poles above the reach of animals and used for storing food, equipment, etc.

verb (used with object)

, cached, cach·ing.

1. to put in a cache; conceal; hide.

   Synonyms: secrete

cache

/ kæʃ /

noun

1. a hidden store of provisions, weapons, treasure, etc
2. the place where such a store is hidden
3. computing a small high-speed memory that improves computer performance

verb

1. tr to store in a cache

cache

/ kăsh /

1. An area of computer memory devoted to the high-speed retrieval of frequently used or requested data.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cache¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from French, noun derivative of cacher “to hide,” from unattested Vulgar Latin coācticāre “to stow away,” originally, “to pack together,” frequentative of Latin coāctāre, equivalent to Latin coāct(us) “collected” (past participle of cōgere “to collect, compel”) + -icā- formative verb suffix + -re infinitive ending

Word History and Origins

Origin of cache¹

C19: from French, from cacher to hide

Example Sentences

For example, your web browser caches images and scripts of sites you visit so subsequent visits to the same page will load much faster.

From ProPublica

If someone who used the same computer after you in that temporary timeframe knew how to access a browser’s cache, and knew what to look for, it is possible they could have accessed the keys and tokens that you viewed.

From TechCrunch

In the email, obtained by TechCrunch, the social media giant said that the private keys and tokens may have been improperly stored in the browser’s cache by mistake.

From TechCrunch

Keep bears out of your food supplyOne of my favorite uses for 550 cord is when I need to suspend my food cache high in a tree.

From Popular-Science

It helps to be the WSJ, it carries cache with readers, journalists and the world, our ability to negotiate enhanced.

From Digiday

Ultimately they would go ahead along with the Washington Post and publish a host of revelations from the Snowden cache.

From The Daily Beast

Red squirrels cache the pinecones (saving the bears a ton of work).

From The Daily Beast

Certainly, documentary film never had this much cultural cache when it was competing for theater screens.

From The Daily Beast

The first cache of photos landed online in late August, and celebs Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and others were targeted.

From The Daily Beast

Print also has a certain cache that might appeal to both sex workers and clients.

From The Daily Beast

As the caravan came nearer, David was convinced that he saw before him the owner of the cache and the canine.

From Project Gutenberg

They went to the chamber where Bemmon slept and there, almost at once, they found his cache.

From Project Gutenberg

They were not drunkards, but the cache had given them hopes of drinks.

From Project Gutenberg

If worst came to the worst there was bread stuff in the cache.

From Project Gutenberg

Couldn't we make a sort of cache of it—bury it just outside the cabin for to-night?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hideout
• hoard
• nest egg
• repository
• stash
• stockpile
• storehouse
• treasure
• wealth