The AI-powered English dictionary
plural craters
(astronomy) A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object. examples
(geology) 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.
The pit left by the explosion of a mine or bomb. quotations examples
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.
2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43
(informal, by extension) Any large, roughly circular depression or hole. examples
(historical) Alternative spelling of krater (“vessel for mixing water and wine”) quotations
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.
1941, Louis MacNeice, The March of the 10,000
third-person singular simple present craters, present participle cratering, simple past and past participle cratered
To form craters in a surface. examples
(figurative) To collapse catastrophically; to become devastated or completely destroyed. quotations examples
Yup, John McCain said to me the economy “is about to crater.” You folks worried about the economy? Whoo! Not me.
2008 November 25, David Letterman, quoting John McCain, “‘The Economy Is Exploding’”, in NYTimes blog
Uber said on Thursday that its ride-hailing business had cratered in the second quarter as people traveled less in the pandemic.
2020 August 6, Kate Conger, “Uber’s Revenue Craters, as Deliveries Surge in Pandemic”, in New York Times
The potential agreement comes after months of disputes that have created existential challenges for Twitter, cratering its share price, demoralizing its employees and spooking the advertisers it relies on for revenue.
2022 October 4, Kate Conger, Lauren Hirsch, “Elon Musk Suggests Buying Twitter at His Original Price”, in The New York Times
(snowboarding) To crash or fall. examples
(Scotland, Ireland) Alternative form of creature. quotations examples
I then had the two best tarriers beneath the canopy; this poor crater is their daughter," and he patted the dog's head affectionately.
1843, William Hamilton Maxwell, Wild Sports of the West: With Legendary Tales, and Local Sketches, R. Bentley, page 77
She is a charming crater; I would venture to say that, if I was not her father.
1772, David Garrick, “The Irish Widow”, in The British Drama: A Collection of the Most Esteemed Tragedies, Comedies ..., published 1859, page 611
‘Then why not stop for fellow-craters—going to thy own father’s house too, as we be, and knowen us so well?’
1872, [Thomas Hardy], “I. Mellstock-Lane”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, part I, page 6