cave-in

[ keyv-in ]

noun

1. a collapse, as of anything hollow:

   the worst cave-in in the history of mining.

2. a place or site of such a collapse.
3. submission to something or someone previously opposed or resisted:

   His cave-in to such unreasonable demands shocked us.

cave in

verb

1. to collapse; subside
2. informal.
   to yield completely, esp under pressure

noun

1. the sudden collapse of a roof, piece of ground, etc, into a hollow beneath it; subsidence
2. the site of such a collapse, as at a mine or tunnel
3. informal.
   an instance of yielding completely, esp under pressure

Word History and Origins

Origin of cave-in¹

First recorded in 1700–10; noun use of verb phrase cave in

Example Sentences

Agatha’s mental wall dropping and letting Billy in proves she has made great strides to being more than just the nosy neighbor with a rune-laden cave in her basement.

From Salon

I saw a story in Popular Mechanics, of all places, about the 17,000-year-old skeletal remains of a child that was discovered in 1998 in southern Italy buried in a cave in Monopoli, a town on the Adriatic Sea.

From Salon

A cave in the foothills of the Pyrenees has a wall painting from several thousand years later depicting a battle fought between humans using bows and arrows.

From Salon

Firefighters were also using hydraulic rams to ensure the 3-foot-wide and 8-foot-deep trench did not cave in further.

From Los Angeles Times

As rescuers worked, they strove to “reduce vibration and personnel close to the trench,” to avoid causing more dirt to cave in, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• capsize
• decline
• descend
• dig
• dip
• disappear
• drill
• drive
• drop
• drown
• fall
• go down
• lower
• overturn
• plummet
• plunge
• ram
• sag
• settle
• slump