Cradle Definition
krādl
cradled, cradles, cradling
noun
cradles
A baby's small bed, usually on rockers.
Webster's New World
The earliest period of one's life; infancy.
Webster's New World
The place of a thing's beginning or early development.
The cradle of civilization.
Webster's New World
A place of rest.
Rocked in the cradle of the deep.
Webster's New World
A framework of wood or metal used to support something, such as a ship undergoing construction or repair.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
- provenience
- provenance
- place of origin
- birthplace
- rocker
- trundle-bed
- solen
- matrix
- infancy
- incunabula
- cunabula
- baby's bed
- ultimate source
- fountain
- spring
verb
cradled, cradles, cradling
To lie in or as in a cradle.
Webster's New World
To place, rock, or hold in or as in a cradle.
Webster's New World
To take care of in infancy; nurture.
Webster's New World
To hold or support protectively.
Cradled the cat in his arms.
American Heritage
In hockey, to keep possession of (the puck) by moving the stick back and forth to prevent the puck from sliding away.
American Heritage
adjective
From birth or by way of upbringing.
A cradle Catholic, one's cradle language.
Webster's New World
idiom
rob the cradle
- to take as one's sweetheart or one's spouse a person much younger than oneself
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Cradle
Noun
Singular:
cradle
Plural:
cradlesIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Cradle
Origin of Cradle
Middle English cradel from Old English
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Old English cradol.
From Wiktionary
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