crater

crater
—crateral, craterous, adj. —craterlike, adj.
/kray"teuhr/, n., gen. Crateris /kray tear"is/ for 9, v.
n.
1. the cup-shaped depression or cavity on the surface of the earth or other heavenly body marking the orifice of a volcano.
2. Also called impact crater, meteorite crater. (on the surface of the earth, moon, etc.) a bowl-shaped depression with a raised rim, formed by the impact of a meteoroid. Cf. astrobleme.
3. Astron. (on the surface of the moon) a circular or almost circular area having a depressed floor, almost always containing a central mountain and usually completely enclosed by walls that are often higher than those of a walled plain; ring formation; ring. Cf. walled plain.
4. the bowllike orifice of a geyser.
5. the hole or pit in the ground where a bomb, shell, or military mine has exploded.
6. Elect. the cavity formed in a positive carbon electrode by an electric arc.
7. Gk. and Rom. Antiq. krater.
8. Metalworking. a depression at the end of a bead produced by welding.
9. (cap.) Astron. the Cup, a small southern constellation west of Corvus and north of Hydra.
v.t.
10. to make craters in: Bombs had cratered the landscape.
11. Slang.
a. to cancel, abandon, or cast aside: to crater the new project.
b. to destroy or ruin: One more disappointment won't crater me.
v.i.
12. to form a crater or craters: The surface of the concrete cratered and cracked under the repeated impacts.
[1605-15; < L < Gk kratér mixing bowl, lit., mixer, equiv. to kra- (base of kerannýnai to mix) + -ter agentive suffix; cf. CRASIS]

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I
Circular depression in the surface of a planetary body.

Most craters are the result of impacts of meteorites or of volcanic explosions. Meteorite craters are more common on the Moon and Mars and on other planets and natural satellites than on Earth, because most meteorites either burn up in the Earth's atmosphere before reaching its surface or erosion soon obscures the impact site. Craters made by exploding volcanoes (e.g., Crater Lake, Ore.) are more common on the Earth than on the Moon, Mars, or Jupiter's moon Io, where they have also been identified.
II
(as used in expressions)

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Crater — may refer to: In landforms: Impact crater, caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet Volcanic crater or caldera, formed by volcanic activity Subsidence crater, from an underground (usually nuclear)… …   Wikipedia

  • crater — CRÁTER, cratere, s.n. 1. Deschizătură în formă de pâlnie la un vulcan, prin care ţâşnesc vapori, gaze, cenuşă etc. şi se revarsă lava. 2. Gaură în formă de pâlnie făcută de un meteorit pe suprafaţa pământului. ♢ Crater lunar = adâncitură rotundă… …   Dicționar Român

  • Cráter — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda El término cráter hace referencia a: Cráter (volcánico), aberturas o bocas de erupción de los volcanes. Cráter (impacto), formación producida por el impacto de meteoritos contra un cuerpo como un planeta, asteroide o …   Wikipedia Español

  • CRATER — ἀπὶ τȏυ κέρατος, quasi κερατὴρ, quoniam in cornua potio olim fundebatur; cuius rei vestigia certissima in antiquis inscriptionibus. D. Ambrosius, l. de Elia ac ieiunio, c. 17. Per cornu etiam fluentia in fauces hominum vina decurrunt, et si quis… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Crater — Cra ter (kr[=a] t[ e]r), n. [L. crater, cratera, a mixing vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Gr. krath r, fr. keranny nai to mix; cf. Skr. [,c]r[imac] to mix, [,c]ir to cook, [,c]r[=a] to cook. Cf. {Grail}, in Holy Grail.] 1. The basinlike opening… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • crater — 1610s, from L. crater, from Gk. krater bowl for mixing wine with water, from kera to mix, from PIE root *kere . Used in Latin for bowl shaped mouth of a volcano. Applied to features of the Moon since 1860. As a verb, from 1884 …   Etymology dictionary

  • cráter — sustantivo masculino 1. Área: geología Depresión de los volcanes por la que éstos expulsan lava y gases al exterior: Nos enseñaron el cráter de un volcán extinguido hace miles de años. 2. Hundimiento que aparece en la superficie de la Tierra o de …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • cráter — (Del lat. crater, copa, y este del gr. κρατήρ). 1. m. Depresión topográfica más o menos circular formada por explosión volcánica y por la cual sale humo, ceniza, lava, fango u otras materias, cuando el volcán está en actividad. 2. Depresión… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • crater — ► NOUN ▪ a large bowl shaped cavity, especially one caused by an explosion or impact or forming the mouth of a volcano. ► VERB ▪ form a crater or craters in. ORIGIN Greek krat r mixing bowl …   English terms dictionary

  • Crater — Crater. См. Кратер (Сварочная ванна). (Источник: «Металлы и сплавы. Справочник.» Под редакцией Ю.П. Солнцева; НПО Профессионал , НПО Мир и семья ; Санкт Петербург, 2003 г.) …   Словарь металлургических терминов

  • Crater — (gr.), s. Krater …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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