What does "cradle" mean?
A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
Cradle
/ˈkɹeɪdəl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
- Grammar: cradle is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: birthplace, afford support, appease, babyhood.
- Useful contrasts: adult bed, discard, drop.
- Usage evidence: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
How to use "cradle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cradle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cradle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cradle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cradle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cradle" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "birthplace" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cradle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
"No sooner was I crept out of my cradle / But I was made a king, at nine months old."
- 2 a baby bed with sides and rockers wordnet
- 3 The place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence. figuratively
"a cradle of crime"
- 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 wordnet
- 5 Infancy, or very early life. figuratively
"from the cradle to the grave"
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence wordnet
- 7 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.
- 8 birth of a person wordnet
- 9 A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so as to prepare the ground.
- 10 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.
- 11 A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
- 12 A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the sensitive parts of an injured person.
- 13 A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth.
"Rough men brought pickle bottles full of nuggets. Mysterious dirty-looking calico bags were opened, disclosing small quantities of water-worn flaky gold, which had been washed out of the beds of rivers with a cradle."
- 14 A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
- 15 A ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
"A strong iron bar is fixed at the top of each cradle, to which the suspending chains are attached; the latter pass over the sheaves, and the cradles are kept in a horizontal position, by means of an adjusting rod placed above them"
- 16 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."
- 17 A rest for the receiver of a telephone, or for certain computer hardware.
"He slammed the handset into the cradle."
- 18 A hand position allowing a contact ball to be held steadily on the back of the hand.
- 19 A mechanical device for tilting and decanting a bottle of wine.
Verb
- 1 To contain in or as if in a cradle. transitive
- 2 run with the stick wordnet
- 3 To rock (a baby to sleep). transitive
- 4 hold gently and carefully wordnet
- 5 To wrap protectively, to hold gently and protectively. transitive
"cradling the injured man’s head in her arms"
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 wash in a cradle wordnet
- 7 To lull or quieten, as if by rocking.
- 8 cut grain with a cradle scythe wordnet
- 9 To nurse or train in infancy.
"He that hath been cradled in majesty will not leave the throne to play with beggars."
- 10 hold or place in or as if in a cradle wordnet
- 11 To rock the lacrosse stick back and forth in order to keep the ball in the head by means of centrifugal force.
- 12 bring up from infancy wordnet
- 13 To cut and lay (grain) with a cradle.
- 14 To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
"Edward H[enry] Knight (1877), “Cradle”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC: “In Lombardy […] boats are cradled and transported over the grade.”"
- 15 To put ribs across the back of (a picture), to prevent the panels from warping.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cradle"?
Common synonyms include: birthplace, afford support, appease, babyhood, back, back up.
How do you use "cradle" in a sentence?
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
How do you pronounce "cradle"?
Pronounced /ˈkɹeɪdəl/.
Etymology
From Middle English cradel, credel, from Old English cradol, from Proto-West Germanic *kradul, from Proto-Germanic *kradulaz, from Proto-Germanic *kradô (“(wicker) basket”). Related to cart.