caves

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of cave.

   Explorers mapped several limestone caves beneath the ridge last summer.

   Ancient paintings survive on the walls of caves across southern France.

   Note

   One spelling, two grammars: these letters serve as the plural noun and as the present-tense verb, so the sentence around them decides which is meant. As a noun it gathers every kind of cave the singular names: limestone hollows, cellars for wine or cheese, the man caves of household retreat, even shielded rooms for nuclear experiments. The stem stays unchanged and simply takes -s.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of cave.

   She rarely caves under pressure, even when the whole room disagrees with her.

   The sandy bank caves whenever the river rises after a storm.

   Note

   Behind one present-tense form sit several quite different verbs. Someone who caves gives way under pressure, and a riverbank that caves collapses; neither takes an object. Water that caves a cliff hollows it out, and in room-and-pillar mining a crew caves a deposit by breaking down the pillar that held it, both with a direct object. A weekend explorer who caves simply goes underground for sport.

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