1. [n]  an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea
2. [v]  explore natural caves
3. [v]  hollow out as if making a cave or opening; "The river was caving the banks"

Cave
Examines small portions of the entrance and the interior of a limestone cave and describes the life they support

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1. \Cave\ (k[=a]v), n. [F. cave, L. cavus hollow, whence cavea
   cavity. Cf. {Cage}.]
   1. A hollow place in the earth, either natural or artificial;
      a subterraneous cavity; a cavern; a den.
   2. Any hollow place, or part; a cavity. [Obs.] ``The cave of
      the ear.'' --Bacon.
   {Cave bear} (Zo["o]l.), a very large fossil bear ({Ursus
      spel[ae]us}) similar to the grizzly bear, but large;
      common in European caves.
   {Cave dweller}, a savage of prehistoric times whose dwelling
      place was a cave. --Tylor.
   {Cave hyena} (Zo["o]l.), a fossil hyena found abundanty in
      British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of
      the living African spotted hyena.
   {Cave lion} (Zo["o]l.), a fossil lion found in the caves of
      Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African
      lion.
   {Bone cave}. See under {Bone}.
   

2. \Cave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Caved}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Caving}.] [Cf. F. caver. See {Cave}, n.]
   To make hollow; to scoop out. [Obs.]
         The mouldred earth cav'd the banke.      --Spenser.
   

3. \Cave\, v. i.
   1. To dwell in a cave. [Obs.] --Shak.
   2. [See To cave in, below.] To fall in or down; as, the sand
      bank caved. Hence (Slang), to retreat from a position; to
      give way; to yield in a disputed matter.
   {To cave in}. [Flem. inkalven.]
      (a) To fall in and leave a hollow, as earth on the side of
          a well or pit.
      (b) To submit; to yield. [Slang] --H. Kingsley.
   

4. \Cave\, n. (Eng. Politics)
   A coalition or group of seceders from a political party, as
   from the Liberal party in England in 1866. See {Adullam},
   {Cave of}, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
   

There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria, many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes.

The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot (Gen. 19:30).

The next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (Gen. 25:9, 10). It was the burying-place of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Gen. 49:31; 50:13).

The cave of Makkedah, into which the five Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua (10:16, 27).

The cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid himself from Saul (1 Sam. 22:1, 2).

The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called 'Ain Jidy, i.e., the "Fountain of the Kid", where David cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (24:4). Here he also found a shelter for himself and his followers to the number of 600 (23:29; 24:1). "On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day."

The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets (1 Kings 18:4) was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified.

The cave of Elijah (1 Kings 19:9), and the "cleft" of Moses on Horeb (Ex. 33:22), cannot be determined.

In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain regions of Manasseh (Judg. 6:2).

Caves were frequently used as dwelling-places (Num. 24:21; Cant. 2:14; Jer. 49:16; Obad. 1:3). "The excavations at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites," the ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also sometimes used as prisons (Isa. 24:22; 51:14; Zech. 9:11). Those which had niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places (Ezek. 32:23; John 11:38).