Crater

//ˈkɹeɪ.tɚ// name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.
  2. 2
    Alternative form of creature. Ireland, Scotland, alt-of, alternative

    "I then had the two best tarriers beneath the canopy; this poor crater is their daughter," and he patted the dog's head affectionately."

  3. 3
    a bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or bomb wordnet
  4. 4
    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.
  5. 5
    a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    The pit left by the explosion of a mine or bomb.

    "But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater."

  2. 7
    Any large, roughly circular depression or hole. broadly, informal
  3. 8
    Alternative spelling of krater (“vessel for mixing water and wine”). alt-of, alternative, historical

    "The people of those parts lived in underground houses - more of dug-outs - along with their goats and sheep and they had great craters full of wine, barley-wine, that they drank through reeds."

Verb
  1. 1
    To form craters in a surface.
  2. 2
    To collapse catastrophically; to become devastated or completely destroyed. figuratively

    "Yup, John McCain said to me the economy “is about to crater.” You folks worried about the economy? Whoo! Not me."

  3. 3
    To crash or fall.

    "He cratered into that snow bank about five seconds after his first lesson."

  4. 4
    To die from fall damage.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a cup. It lies between the constellations Virgo and Hydra.

Synonyms

All synonyms
abysmabyssalveolationalveolusantrumarmpit

Antonyms

All antonyms
hill

Example

More examples

"Some of the bluest water in the world is found in Crater Lake."

Etymology

Etymology 1

First coined 1613, from Latin crātēr (“basin”), from Ancient Greek κρᾱτήρ (krātḗr, “mixing-bowl, wassail-bowl”).

Etymology 2

From Latin crater (“basin; cup”), from Ancient Greek κρατήρ (kratḗr, “mixing bowl, wassail-bowl”), from κράμα (kráma, “mixture”), from κεράννυμι (keránnumi, “to mix, to mingle”).

Related phrases

Endeavour CraterGale CraterNemo CraterPirx CraterRevati CraterSadko CraterSunset Craterbomb cratercrater facecrater lakecrater of eternal darknessimpact crater

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.