meaning of cradle
1. A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging 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.
2. Infancy, or very early life.
3. 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.
4. 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. A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
7. A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the person.
8. A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth; -- also called a rocker.
9. A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
10. The ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
11. 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.
12. To lay to rest, or rock, as in a cradle; to lull or quiet, as by rocking.
13. To nurse or train in infancy.
14. To cut and lay with a cradle, as grain.
15. To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
16. To lie or lodge, as in a cradle.
17. a baby bed with sides and rockers
Related Words
cradle | cradle cap | cradled | cradlesong |
