cradle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a baby bed with sides and rockers
  2. noun where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence
    provenance; birthplace; provenience; place of origin.
    • the birthplace of civilization
  3. noun birth of a person
    • he was taught from the cradle never to cry
  4. noun 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
    rocker.
  5. verb hold gently and carefully
    • He cradles the child in his arms
  6. verb bring up from infancy
  7. verb hold or place in or as if in a cradle
    • He cradled the infant in his arms
  8. verb cut grain with a cradle scythe
  9. verb wash in a cradle
    • cradle gold
  10. verb run with the stick

WordNet

Cra"dle noun
Etymology
AS. cradel, cradol, prob. from Celtic; cf. Gael. creathall, Ir. craidhal, W. cryd a shaking or rocking, a cradle; perh. akin to E. crate.
Definitions
  1. A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinginng on pivots; hence, the place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence; as, a cradle of crime; the cradle of liberty.
    The cradle that received thee at thy birth. Cowper.
    No sooner was I crept out of my cradle But I was made a king, at nine months old. Shak.
  2. Infancy, or very early life.
    From their cradles bred together. Shak.
    A form of worship in which they had been educated from their cradles. Clarendon.
  3. (Agric.) 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 eventlyin a swath.
  4. (Engraving) A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so preparing the ground.
  5. 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.
  6. (Med.) (a) A case for a broken or dislocated limb. (b) A frame to keep the bedclothes from conntact with the person.
  7. (Mining) (a) A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth; -- also called a rocker. U.S. (b) A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
  8. (Carp.) The ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster. Knight.
  9. (Naut.) The 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.
Cra"dle transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Cradled present participle & verbal noun Cradling
Definitions
  1. To lay to rest, or rock, as in a cradle; to lull or quiet, as by rocking.
    It cradles their fears to sleep. D. A. Clark.
  2. To nurse or train in infancy.
    He that hath been cradled in majesty will not leave the throne to play with beggars. Glanvill.
  3. To cut and lay with a cradle, as grain.
  4. To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
    In Lombardy . . . boats are cradled and transported over the grade. Knight.
Cra"dle intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To lie or lodge, as in a cradle.
    Withered roots and husks wherein the acorn cradled. Shak.

Webster 1913