cradle

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: crudle, cragle, cadle, credle, radle, craple, gradle, crable, craddle, crale, crandle

Antonyms: crudle, cragle, cadle, credle, radle, craple, gradle, crable, craddle, crale, crandle

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. A [[bed]] or [[cot]] for a baby, [[oscillate|oscillating]] on [[rocker]]s or [[swing]]ing on [[pivot]]s.
2. {{lb|en|figuratively}} The place of [[origin]], or in which anything is [[nurture]]d or [[protect]]ed in the earlier period of [[existence]].
3. {{lb|en|figuratively}} [[infancy|Infancy]], or very early life.
4. An [[implement]] [[consist]]ing of a broad [[scythe]] for cutting [[grain]], with a set of long [[finger]]s parallel to the scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it evenly in a [[swath]].
5. A tool used in [[mezzotint]] [[engraving]], which, by a [[rock]]ing motion, [[raise]]s [[burr]]s on the [[surface]] of the [[plate]], so as to [[prepare]] the [[ground]].
6. A [[framework]] of [[timber]]s, or iron bars, moving upon [[way]]s or [[roller]]s, used to [[support]], [[lift]], or carry ships or other [[vessel]]s, heavy guns, etc., as up an [[inclined]] plane, or across a [[strip]] of land, or in [[launch]]ing a ship.
7. A [[case]] for a broken or dislocated [[limb]].
8. A [[frame]] to keep the [[bedclothes]] from contact with the sensitive parts of an injured person.
9. {{lb|en|mining}} A machine on rockers, used in washing out [[auriferous]] earth.
10. {{lb|en|mining}} A [[suspend]]ed [[scaffold]] used in [[shaft]]s.
11. {{lb|en|carpentry}} A [[ribbing]] for [[vault]]ed [[ceiling]]s and [[arch]]es intended to be covered with [[plaster]].
12. {{lb|en|nautical}} A [[basket]] or [[apparatus]] in which, when a line has been made [[fast]] to a [[wreck]]ed ship from the shore, the people are brought off from the wreck.

Verb

1. {{lb|en|transitive}} To [[contain]] in or as if in a cradle.
2. {{lb|en|transitive}} To [[rock]] {{qualifier|a baby to sleep}}.
3. {{lb|en|transitive}} To [[wrap]] protectively, to hold gently and protectively.
4. To [[lull]] or [[quieten]], as if by rocking.
5. To nurse or train in infancy.
6. {{lb|en|lacrosse}} To [[rock]] the [[lacrosse stick]] back and forth in order to keep the [[ball]] in the [[head]] by means of [[centrifugal force]].
7. To cut and lay (grain) with a cradle.
8. To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
9. To put ribs across the back of (a picture), to prevent the panels from warping.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.