cavity
/ˈkavɪti
/noun (plural cavities)
1An empty space within a solid object: the abdominal cavity...
- Sinuses are air-filled, hollow spaces or cavities within the facial bones surrounding your nose.
- It consisted of filling the empty space of cavities with hydrogen atoms and drawing the surface contour of the H atoms.
- These animals are thought to survive only if ice is confined to their body cavity and other extracellular spaces.
Synonyms
space, chamber, hollow, hole, pocket, pouch;
orifice, aperture;
socket, gap, crater, pit;
cutting, concavity;
Anatomy lacuna, sac, alveolus, ampulla, antrum, archenteron, bulla, bursa, lumen, orbit, sinus, ventricle, vesicle;
Zoology calyx;
Botany cyst;
Geology geode, vug
1.1A decayed part of a tooth: most dentists fill cavities right away...
- If the teeth are not cleaned properly they may be vulnerable to tooth decay causing cavities, or to gum disease.
- He described techniques for scraping out caries and filling the cavities with soft metals such as tin, lead, or gold.
- I know two mothers with toddlers who nurse several times a night and have extensive tooth decay and cavities.
Derivatives
cavitary
- Because patients with cavitary pulmonary TB are more likely than those without pulmonary cavities to be sputum AFB smear-positive, patients with cavitary pulmonary disease have greater potential to transmit TB.
- There was a solitary, well-circumscribed, 1.5 × 1.0 × 1.0-cm cavitary lesion in the cranium filled with dense, yellow fibrous tissue.
- Of the 443 patients who had a chest radiograph report available, 173 were found to have cavitary involvement.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from French cavité or late Latin cavitas, from Latin cavus 'hollow'.