noun
Meaning 1
A cave, cavern or grotto.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
spelunk
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/spəˈlʌŋk/
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/spiːˈlʌŋk/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ʌŋk
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CMU ARPABET: S P AH0 L AH1 NG K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To explore caves.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To explore a system in depth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
explore natural caves
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cave
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: explore
History
Etymology
From Middle English spelunke, from Old French spelonque and/or Latin spelunca, from Ancient Greek σπῆλυγξ (spêlunx, “cave”), related to σπέος (spéos). Cognates include Middle Dutch spelunke, spelonke, German Spelunke.
U.S., 1940s. Back-formation from spelunker.
Across languages
Translations
5 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Finnish: tutkia luolia — to explore caves
- Hungarian: barlangászik — to explore caves
- Russian: иссле́довать пещеры (isslédovatʹ peščery) — to explore caves
- Russian: занима́ться спелеологией (zanimátʹsja speleologijej) — to explore caves
- Spanish: hacer espeleología — to explore caves