- (v.t.) To nurse or train in infancy.
- (n.) 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.
- (n.) 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.
- (n.) A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth; -- also called a rocker.
- (n.) A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the person.
- (n.) A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
- (v.i.) To lie or lodge, as in a cradle.
- (n.) 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.
- (v.t.) To lay to rest or rock, as in a cradle; to lull or quiet, as by rocking.
- (v.t.) To cut and lay with a cradle, as grain.
- (n.) A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
- (n.) Infancy or very early life.
- (n.) A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so preparing the ground.
- (v.t.) To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
- (n.) 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.
- (n.) The ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). cradle. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/cradle/definitions/1992589 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "cradle" http://smartdefine.org/cradle/definitions/1992589 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, cradle, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/cradle/definitions/1992589>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "cradle" 27 May 2011. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/cradle/definitions/1992589> |