cradle

[kreyd-l] /ˈkreɪd l/
noun
1.
a small bed for an infant, usually on rockers.
2.
any of various supports for objects set horizontally, as the support for the handset of a telephone.
3.
the place where anything is nurtured during its early existence:
Boston was the cradle of the American Revolution.
4.
Agriculture.
  1. a frame of wood with a row of long curved teeth projecting above and parallel to a scythe, for laying grain in bunches as it is cut.
  2. a scythe together with the cradle in which it is set.
5.
a wire or wicker basket used to hold a wine bottle in a more or less horizontal position while the wine is being served.
6.
Artillery. the part of a gun carriage on which a recoiling gun slides.
7.
a landing platform for ferryboats, rolling on inclined tracks to facilitate loading and unloading at different water levels.
8.
Aeronautics. a docklike structure in which a rigid or semirigid airship is built or is supported during inflation.
9.
Automotive. creeper (def 5).
10.
Nautical.
  1. a shaped support for a boat, cast, etc.; chock.
  2. truss (def 9).
11.
Shipbuilding.
  1. a moving framework on which a hull slides down the ways when launched.
  2. a built-up form on which plates of irregular form are shaped.
12.
Medicine/Medical. a frame that prevents the bedclothes from touching an injured part of a bedridden patient.
13.
Mining. a box on rockers for washing sand or gravel to separate gold or other heavy metal.
14.
an engraver's tool for laying mezzotint grounds.
15.
Painting. a structure of wooden strips attached to the back of a panel, used as a support and to prevent warping.
verb (used with object), cradled, cradling.
16.
to hold gently or protectively.
17.
to place or rock in or as in an infant's cradle.
18.
to nurture during infancy.
19.
to receive or hold as a cradle.
20.
to cut (grain) with a cradle.
21.
to place (a vessel) on a cradle.
22.
Mining. to wash (sand or gravel) in a cradle; rock.
23.
Painting. to support (a panel) with a cradle.
verb (used without object), cradled, cradling.
24.
to lie in or as if in a cradle.
25.
to cut grain with a cradle scythe.
Idioms
26.
rob the cradle, Informal. to marry, court, or date a person much younger than oneself.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English cradel, Old English cradol; akin to Old High German cratto basket
Related forms
cradler, noun
uncradled, adjective
Synonyms
3. birthplace, fountain, font, wellspring.
Examples from the web for cradle
  • cradle cap is not contagious, nor is it caused by poor hygiene.
  • Some are said to have been allowed to cradle the newborns briefly before losing them.
  • Everyone is running out of the starting gate with their green idea without cradle to grave calculations.
  • Time, perhaps, for us to move on and for them to leave the cradle and grow up.
  • Our planet is far from being a benign cradle of life.
  • Archaeology reveals the rich histories of complex cultures in the cradle of humankind.
  • The little bit of cloud left seem to cradle the sun as it went down.
  • And the rest of the world hasn't had cradle to grave royalist propaganda shoved down their throats.
  • It should go without saying but no reminder seems ever enough that each one of us needs to, simply put, eat from cradle to grave.
  • Personal responsibility should be primary obligation, not the expectation of cradle to grave hand-holding.
British Dictionary definitions for cradle

cradle

/ˈkreɪdəl/
noun
1.
a baby's bed with enclosed sides, often with a hood and rockers
2.
a place where something originates or is nurtured during its early life: the cradle of civilization
3.
the earliest period of life: they knew each other from the cradle
4.
a frame, rest, or trolley made to support or transport a piece of equipment, aircraft, ship, etc
5.
a platform, cage, or trolley, in which workmen are suspended on the side of a building or ship
6.
the part of a telephone on which the handset rests when not in use
7.
a holder connected to a computer allowing data to be transferred from a PDA, digital camera, etc
8.
another name for creeper (sense 5)
9.
(agriculture)
  1. a framework of several wooden fingers attached to a scythe to gather the grain into bunches as it is cut
  2. a scythe equipped with such a cradle; cradle scythe
  3. a collar of wooden fingers that prevents a horse or cow from turning its head and biting itself
10.
Also called rocker. a boxlike apparatus for washing rocks, sand, etc, containing gold or gem stones
11.
(engraving) a tool that produces the pitted surface of a copper mezzotint plate before the design is engraved upon it
12.
a framework used to prevent the bedclothes from touching a sensitive part of an injured person
13.
from the cradle to the grave, throughout life
verb
14.
(transitive) to rock or place in or as if in a cradle; hold tenderly
15.
(transitive) to nurture in or bring up from infancy
16.
(transitive) to replace (the handset of a telephone) on the cradle
17.
to reap (grain) with a cradle scythe
18.
(transitive) to wash (soil bearing gold, etc) in a cradle
19.
(lacrosse) to keep (the ball) in the net of the stick, esp while running with it
Derived Forms
cradler, noun
Word Origin
Old English cradol; related to Old High German kratto basket
Word Origin and History for cradle
n.

c.1200, cradel, from Old English cradol "little bed, cot," from Proto-Germanic *kradulas "basket" (cf. Old High German kratto, krezzo "basket," German Krätze "basket carried on the back"). Cat's cradle is from 1768. Cradle-snatching "amorous pursuit of younger person" is 1925, U.S. slang.

v.

c.1500, from cradle (n.). Related: Cradled; cradling.

cradle in Medicine

cradle cra·dle (krād'l)
n.

  1. A small low bed for an infant, often furnished with rockers.

  2. A frame used to keep the bedclothes from pressing on an injured part.

Slang definitions & phrases for cradle

cradle

Related Terms

rob the cradle


Idioms and Phrases with cradle

cradle

see:
Encyclopedia Article for cradle

in furniture, infant's bed of wood, wicker, or iron, having enclosed sides and suspended from a bar, slung upon pivots, or mounted on rockers. The rocking motion of the cradle is intended to lull the infant to sleep. The cradle is an ancient type of furniture, and its origins are unknown. Early cradles developed from hollowed-out tree trunks to oblong, lidless wood boxes, originally with apparently detachable rockers. Later cradles were paneled and carved, supported on pillars, inlaid, or mounted in gilded bronze.

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