Dictionary Definition
cradle
Noun
1 a baby bed with sides and rockers
2 where something originated or was nurtured in
its early existence; "the birthplace of civilization" [syn:
birthplace, place of
origin, provenance]
3 birth of a person; "he was taught from the
cradle never to cry"
4 a trough on rockers used by gold miners to
shake earth in water in order to separate the gold [syn: rocker]
Verb
1 hold gently and carefully; "He cradles the
child in his arms"
2 bring up from infancy
3 hold or place in or as if in a cradle; "He
cradled the infant in his arms"
4 cut grain with a cradle scythe
5 wash in a cradle; "cradle gold"
6 run with the stick
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From cradol.Pronunciation
- , /ˈkreɪdəl/, /"kreId@l/
- Rhymes with: -eɪdəl
Noun
- A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
- In the context of "figurative": The place of origin, or in which anything is
nurtured or protected in the earlier period
of existence.
- a cradle of crime
- the cradle of liberty
- In the context of "figurative": Infancy, or very
early life.
- from the cradle to the grave
- An implement consisting of a broad scythe for cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it evenly in a swath.
- A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so preparing the ground.
- A framework of timbers, or iron bars, moving upon ways or rollers, used to support, lift, or carry ships or other vessels, heavy guns, etc., as up an inclined plane, or across a strip of land, or in launching a ship.
- A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
- A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the sensitive parts of an injured person.
- A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth.
- A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
- A ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
- A basket or apparatus in which, when a
line has been made fast to
a wrecked ship from the
shore, the people are brought off from the wreck.
- The cradle was ill-made. One victim fell into the sea and was lost and the ensuing delay cost three more lives.
- A rest for the receiver of a telephone.
- He slammed the handset into the cradle.
Synonyms
- : rocker
- italbrac rest for receiver of a telephone: rest
Related terms
Translations
oscillating bed for a baby
- Breton: kavell
- Catalan: bressol
- Czech: kolébka
- Danish: vugge
- Dutch: wieg
- Esperanto: lulilo
- Finnish: kehto
- French: berceau
- German: Wiege
- Greek: κούνια
- Hebrew: עריסה ('arisa)
- Hungarian: bölcső
- Icelandic: vagga
- Italian: culla
- Japanese: 揺りかご(ゆりかご, yurikago)
- Portuguese: berço
- Spanish: cuna
- Serbian: kolevka, ljuljka
- Swedish: vagga
figuratively: place of origin
figuratively: infancy, or very early life
- Dutch: wieg
- Finnish: kehto
- Serbian: kolevka
implement for cutting grain
tool used in mezzotint engraving
framework used to support, lift, or carry ships
or other vessels, heavy guns, etc.
- Finnish: alusta, lavetti
case for a broken or dislocated limb
- Dutch: armsteun, houder, steun
- Finnish: lasta
frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with
the person
machine used in washing out auriferous earth
suspended scaffold used in shafts
ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches
basket or apparatus in which people are brought
off from a wreck
- Finnish: pelastustuoli
rest for the receiver of a telephone
- Dutch: haak
- Finnish: kannatin
Translations to be checked
See also
Verb
- To contain in or as if in a cradle.
- To rock (a baby to sleep).
- To wrap protectively.
- cradling the injured man’s head in her arms
- To rock the lacrosse stick back and forth in order to keep the ball in the head by means of centrifugal force.
Translations
contain in or as if in a cradle
- Dutch: omsluiten, omvatten
rock
- Dutch: wiegen
- Finnish: keinuttaa, liekuttaa, tuudittaa
- Hebrew: לנענע (lena'anea)
wrap protectively
- Dutch: omhullen, omsluiten
lacrosse: to rock the lacrosse stick back and
forth
Extensive Definition
A cradle (also
called a bassinet, crib and stock ) is a small bed, often on
rockers, in which babies
and small children sleep.
Cradle may also refer to:
- Cradle (2000s band)
- Cradle (band), a band that Suzi Quatro played in, in the early 1970s before she became a huge star
- Cradle (novel), a novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee.
- A piece of hardware on which a wireless phone, personal digital assistant or digital audio player sits on for charging and/or synchronising with a PC
- Cradle, a horror film.
- Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site near Johannesburg in South Africa, where many early hominid remains were discovered
- Cradle of Civilization, any of the various regions regarded as the earliest centers of civilization
- Cat's Cradle, a novel by Kurt Vonnegut
- Cat's cradle (string game), a children's game with string
- Cradle (circus act), an aerial circus act
- Cradle (wrestling), a very basic move in amateur wrestling
- Cradle of Filth, a British heavy metal band
- Ship's Cradle, supports a ship that is dry docked
- Cradle (grain), in agriculture is a a device based upon a scythe to cleanly reap and harvest grain
- A dismount from a cheerleading stunt
cradle in German: Cradle
cradle in Dutch: Cradle
cradle in Japanese: クレードル
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Colonial bed, Hollywood bed, Vaterland, afford support,
appease, babyhood, back, back up, bassinet, bear, bear up, bed, bed-davenport, beginnings, berth, birth, birthplace, bolster, bolster up, brace, breeding place, brooder, bunk, bunk bed, buoy up, buttress, calm, calm down, camp bed, care
for, carry, cherish, childhood, clarifier, coddle, colander, compose, cool, cosset, cot, crib, cribble, crutch, cultivate, cushion, day bed, door bed,
double bed, double bunk, dry-nurse, dulcify, duplex bed, ease, even out, fatherland, feather bed,
feed, filter, fold-away bed, fondle, forcing bed, foster, four-poster, freshman
year, genesis, gentle, give support, hammock, hatchery, hold, hold up, home, homeground, homeland, hospital bed,
hotbed, hush, inception, inchoation, incipience, incipiency, incubator, incunabula, infancy, keep afloat, keep up,
king-size bed, la patrie, lavish care on, lend support, lixiviator, lower berth,
lull, mainstay, maintain, mollify, mother, mother country, motherland, my Angel-infancy,
nascence, nascency, native land, native
soil, nativity,
nest, nestle, nidus, nourish, nurse, nursery, nurture, origin, origination, pacify, pallet, pamper, panel bed, parturition, patria, percolator, pillow, pipe berth, poster bed,
pour balm into, pregnancy, prop, purifier, put to bed, quarter
berth, queen-size bed, quell, quiet, refiner, refinery, reinforce, rest, riddle, rock, rock to sleep, rocker, roll-away bed, rookery, screen, shore, shore up, shoulder, sieve, sifter, single bed, smooth, smooth down, smooth over,
smoothen, sofa-bed,
soothe, spoon-feed,
stabilize, stay, steady, still, strainer, subdue, subsidize, subvention, suckle, support, sustain, tester bed, the
nursery, the old country, three-quarter bed, tranquilize, truckle bed,
trundle bed, tuck in, underbrace, undergird, underlie, underpin, underset, upbear, uphold, upkeep, wet-nurse, winnow, winnowing basket,
winnowing fan, winnowing machine, youth