cavernousadj.
/ˈkavənəs/, /ˈkavn̩əs/, U.S. /ˈkævərnəs/ 1. Abounding in caverns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [adjective] > cave > full of caverns
cavernous1447
caverned1715
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) 108 This hyl is craggy and eke cavernous.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 142 These Countries being all Mountainous, and Cavernous.
1750 W. Warburton Julian ii. vi. (R.) The town and temple of Delphi were seated on a bare and cavernous rock.
1853 J. Phillips Rivers, Mountains, & Sea-coast Yorks. iii. 111 The mountains are thoroughly cavernous.
2. Full of, or characterized by, cavities or interstices; having a porous texture; hollow in the middle. (Cf. cavern n. 2.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > hollowness > [adjective] > full of cavities > small
cellulate?a1425
cavernous1597
alveated1623
honeycombed1633
favaginous1658
cellulated1693
vesiculated1703
cellulous1712
cellulara1728
cellulose1752
cavernulous1758
comby1773
alveolate1793
vesiculate1828
cavernulated1875
cellularized1942
1597 P. Lowe Art Chirurg. (1634) 116 It [cancer] is hard, unequall, and cavernous, or hollow.
1731 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 5) Cavernous Ulcer is an Ulcer whose Entrance is straight, and the Bottom broad, wherein are many Holes filled with malignant Matter.
1811 J. Pinkerton Petralogy II. 403 The cavernous pumice-stone of Lipari.
1851 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. 302 The Human Spleen has no true cavernous structure.
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta I. x. 118 Till the fire had grown haggard and cavernous.
3.
a. Of the nature of or resembling a cavern; hollow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > hollowness > [adjective]
hollc1000
hollowa1250
hollowyc1400
howea1500
kosche1513
cave1540
boss1553
concave?a1560
concavous1578
unkernelled1584
void1597
wombya1616
cavous1698
cavernous1830
cavitary1861
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 261 Some huge cavernous apertures into which the sea flows.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxiv. 193 The cavernous recess of its cliffs.
1865 E. C. Clayton Cruel Fortune III. 75 His thick eyebrows casting deep shadows on his cavernous eyes.
b. Medicine. Applied to respiration marked by a prolonged hollow resonance. (Cf. broncho-cavernous adj. at broncho- comb. form .)
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [adjective] > noisy breathing
stridulous1822
stertorous1842
cavernous1853
1853 W. O. Markham tr. J. Skoda Treat. Auscultation 94 ‘By the term cavernous respiration,’ says Laennec, ‘I understand the murmur which occurs during inspiration and expiration in a cavity formed in pulmonary tissue.’
1890 F. Taylor Man. Pract. Med. 341 Breath-sounds which deserve the name of cavernous are often heard over solid lung.
1944 R. Coope Dis. Chest v. 71 All cavities will not necessarily act in this way as resonating chambers, and..cavities may be present without cavernous breathing.
4. Of or pertaining to a cavern.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [adjective] > cave
cavy?1614
cryptic1617
cavernal1803
speluncean1803
cavernous1833
caverned1847
speluncar1855
spelaean1882
1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism iv. 84 This cavernous inspiration.
1848 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 111 Cavernous darkness.
Derivatives
ˈcavernously adv. in a cavernous way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > hollowness > [adverb]
hollowyc1400
hollowlya1547
cavernously1849
1849 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 66 420 A rock that was cavernously hollow at the base.
1885 G. Meredith Diana of Crossways II. xii. 277 The Fates..were then beginning cavernously their performance of the part of the villain.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1447