cavity

Mid 16th century borrowing from Middle French cavité or Late Latin cavitās, from cavus (“hollow, excavated, concave”) +‎ -tās (“-ity”, nominal suffix).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæv.ɪt.i/

• Audio (Southern England):

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  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 376: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA^(key): [ˈkʰæv.ɨɾ.i]
• Rhymes: -ævɪti

cavity (plural cavities)

1. A hole or hollow depression in a solid object.

   Hyponyms: microcavity, minicavity, nanocavity

   1. (anatomy) A hollow area within the body.

      Hyponyms: abdominal cavity, body cavity, buccal cavity, chest cavity, endocavity, exocoelomic cavity, haemal cavity, nasal cavity, oral cavity, orbital cavity, pleural cavity, thoracic cavity, tympanic cavity

2. (dentistry) A small or large hole in a tooth caused by caries; often also a soft area adjacent to the hole also affected by caries.

   Synonym: caries

   Jim got two cavities filled at the dentist's office yesterday.

• See also Thesaurus:hole

• “cavity”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “cavity”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

• “cavity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “cavity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “cavity”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.