cradle means A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots. It carries an Arena rating of 1515, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cradle ranks #2,319 of 14,444 for Most Exacting Words, #2,351 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #2,382 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #2,517 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say.
cradle is pronounced /ˈkɹeɪdəl/.
Why “cradle” is a great word
A small bed for an infant, designed to be rocked on pivots or rockers. From Middle English cradel, credel, from Old English cradol, from Proto-West Germanic *kradul, from Proto-Germanic *kradulaz, from Proto-Germanic *kradô ('(wicker) basket'). Unlike a crib, which is static and merely functional, or an origin, which is a cold point on a timeline, the cradle is kinetic and tender—a locus of motion and comfort. It is the rhythmic creak on midnight floorboards, the worn-smooth arc of oak rockers, and the contained universe of a blanket's dimpled hollow; the first vessel that holds us, not to contain, but to carry us gently through the dark.
Etymology
From Middle English cradel, credel, from Old English cradol, from Proto-West Germanic *kradul, from Proto-Germanic *kradulaz, from Proto-Germanic *kradô (“(wicker) basket”). Related to cart.
noun
- A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.e.g.“No sooner was I crept out of my cradle / But I was made a king, at nine months old.”
- The place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence.e.g.“a cradle of crime”
- Infancy, or very early life.e.g.“from the cradle to the grave”
- 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.
- A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so as to prepare the ground.
- 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.
- A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
- A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the sensitive parts of an injured person.
- A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth.
- A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
- A ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
- A 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.e.g.“The cradle was ill-made. One victim fell into the sea and was lost and the ensuing delay cost three more lives.”
- A rest for the receiver of a telephone, or for certain computer hardware.e.g.“He slammed the handset into the cradle.”
- A hand position allowing a contact ball to be held steadily on the back of the hand.
- A mechanical device for tilting and decanting a bottle of wine.
verb
- To contain in or as if in a cradle.
- To rock (a baby to sleep).
- To wrap protectively, to hold gently and protectively.e.g.“cradling the injured man’s head in her arms”
- To lull or quieten, as if by rocking.
- To nurse or train in infancy.e.g.“He that hath been cradled in majesty will not leave the throne to play with beggars.”
- To rock the lacrosse stick back and forth in order to keep the ball in the head by means of centrifugal force.
- To cut and lay (grain) with a cradle.
- To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
- To put ribs across the back of (a picture), to prevent the panels from warping.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- cradleboard 83% match — A board of the kind traditionally used by Native Americans for carrying a baby. vs cradle →
- lullaby 83% match — A cradlesong, a soothing song to calm children or lull them to sleep. vs cradle →
- swaddle 82% match — To bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth. vs cradle →
- childbed 81% match — The final stage of pregnancy; confinement. vs cradle →
- deathbed 81% match — The bed on which someone dies. vs cradle →
- pendulum 79% match — A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks. vs cradle →
- bairn 79% match — A child or baby. vs cradle →
- nurture 79% match — The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care vs cradle →