CRADLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cradle mean? 

• CRADLE (noun)
  The noun CRADLE has 4 senses:

1. a baby bed with sides and rockers

2. where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence

3. birth of a person

4. a trough that can be rocked back and forth; used by gold miners to shake auriferous earth in water in order to separate the gold

  Familiarity information: CRADLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• CRADLE (verb)
  The verb CRADLE has 6 senses:

1. hold gently and carefully

2. bring up from infancy

3. hold or place in or as if in a cradle

4. cut grain with a cradle scythe

5. wash in a cradle

6. run with the stick

  Familiarity information: CRADLE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRADLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A baby bed with sides and rockers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cradle" is a kind of...):

baby's bed; baby bed (a small bed for babies; enclosed by sides to prevent the baby from falling)

Meronyms (parts of "cradle"):

rocker (a curved support that permits the supported object to rock to and fro)

Derivation:

cradle (hold gently and carefully)

cradle (hold or place in or as if in a cradle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

birthplace; cradle; place of origin; provenance; provenience

Context example:

the birthplace of civilization

Hypernyms ("cradle" is a kind of...):

beginning; origin; root; rootage; source (the place where something begins, where it springs into being)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Birth of a person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

he was taught from the cradle never to cry

Hypernyms ("cradle" is a kind of...):

birth (the time when something begins (especially life))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A trough that can be rocked back and forth; used by gold miners to shake auriferous earth in water in order to separate the gold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cradle; rocker

Hypernyms ("cradle" is a kind of...):

trough (a long narrow shallow receptacle)

Derivation:

cradle (wash in a cradle)

• CRADLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they cradle    ... he / she / it cradles   
Past simple: cradled   
Past participle: cradled   
-ing form: cradling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hold gently and carefully

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

He cradles the child in his arms

Hypernyms (to "cradle" is one way to...):

hold; take hold (have or hold in one's hands or grip)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

cradle (a baby bed with sides and rockers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bring up from infancy

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "cradle" is one way to...):

bring up; nurture; parent; raise; rear (look after a child until it is an adult)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hold or place in or as if in a cradle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

He cradled the infant in his arms

Hypernyms (to "cradle" is one way to...):

hold; take hold (have or hold in one's hands or grip)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

cradle (a baby bed with sides and rockers)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cut grain with a cradle scythe

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cradle" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Wash in a cradle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

cradle gold

Hypernyms (to "cradle" is one way to...):

launder; wash (cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cradle (a trough that can be rocked back and forth; used by gold miners to shake auriferous earth in water in order to separate the gold)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Run with the stick

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "cradle" is one way to...):

play (participate in games or sport)

Domain category:

lacrosse (a game invented by American Indians; now played by two teams who use long-handled rackets to catch and carry and throw the ball toward the opponents' goal)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

YOU, who from his cradle reared him to be what he was, and stunted what he should have been!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She sang softly, leaning in the cradle of his arm, her hands in his, their hearts in each other's hands.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The African rain forest may have served as the cradle of termite agriculture.

(Researchers discover oldest evidence of 'farming' by insects, NSF)

Babies can have health issues that are different from older children and adults, like diaper rash and cradle cap.

(Infant and Newborn Care, NIH)

Babies also commonly have skin problems, like diaper rash or cradle cap.

(Common Infant and Newborn Problems, NIH)

It would wail in its cradle all night long—not screaming heartily like any other child, but whimpering and moaning.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Now, in this case, I, who am the right owner, lie under two great disadvantages: first, my lawyer, being practised almost from his cradle in defending falsehood, is quite out of his element when he would be an advocate for justice, which is an unnatural office he always attempts with great awkwardness, if not with ill-will.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

While in their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family!

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)