Spelunk
/spəˈlʌŋk/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cave, cavern or grotto. obsolete
Verb
- 1 To explore caves.
- 2 explore natural caves wordnet
- 3 To explore a system in depth.
Antonyms
All antonymsEtymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English spelunke, from Old French spelonque and/or Latin spelunca, from Ancient Greek σπῆλυγξ (spêlunx, “cave”), related to σπέος (spéos). Cognates include Middle Dutch spelunke, spelonke, German Spelunke.
Etymology 2
U.S., 1940s. Back-formation from spelunker.