cradle

Meaning

Noun

1. A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots.
2. The place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence.
3. Infancy, or very early life.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
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. A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth.
10. A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
11. A ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
12. 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.
13. A rest for the receiver of a telephone, or for certain computer hardware.
14. A hand position allowing a contact ball to be held steadily on the back of the hand.
15. A mechanical device for tilting and decanting a bottle of wine.

Verb

1. To contain in or as if in a cradle.
2. To rock (a baby to sleep).
3. 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. 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.

Synonyms

crib

rocker

swing

rock

🪨

baby bed

cot

birthplace

hold

bassinet

hammock

provenience

lull

lullaby

source

nurture

place of origin

provenance

carrier

infancy

matrix

nestle

nurse

pallet

pedestal

rest

saddle

safety net

seat

💺

shake

shaker

shelter

stretcher

table

tabling

trundle

ultimate

rock to sleep

small bed

baby’s bed

diaper days

cross arm

guard net

lug support

winch frame

shaking table

table concentrator

cope plate

guard cradle

catch net

protecting net

cradle guard

protection network

carrier frame

babyhood

crot

bearer

beginnings

blade

brace

bracket

carriage

carry

chair

🪑

console

cup

cupule

dangle

fascia

frame

gudgeon

handle

homeland

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkɹeɪdəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cradel

Inherited from Old English: cradol

In summary

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.