crater

Meanings

Noun

• A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.
• The basin-like opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a geyser, about which a cone of silica is often built up.
• The pit left by the explosion of a mine or bomb.
• Any large, roughly circular depression or hole.
• Alternate spelling of krater
• Alternative of creature.

Verb

• To form craters in a surface.
• To collapse catastrophically; to become devastated or completely destroyed.
• To crash or fall.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• bomb crater
• impact crater
• volcanic crater
• caldera
• explosion crater
• subsidence crater
• maar crater
• pit crater

Origin

• First coined 1613, from Latin crātēr ("basin"), from Ancient Greek κρᾱτήρ ("mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl").