noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The practice or hobby of exploring underground caverns. uncountable, usually

   "In the great myths, the adventures are external, even when they involve such metaphorical spelunkings as the voyage into the underworld."

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of spelunk form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms

caving

Example

More examples

"Tom found dragon eggs while spelunking."

Etymology

From spelunk + -ing. Back-formation from spelunker. Attested since 1946.

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