cave in

See also: cave-in

English

Alternative forms

• cave-in

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

cave in (third-person singular simple present caves in, present participle caving in, simple past and past participle caved in)

1. To collapse inward or downward.

   Synonyms: cave, break, crush, give way, stave, stave in

   The roof caved in under the weight of the snow.

   He caved in the side of the barrel with a single well-placed kick.

   • 1955 June, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 439:

     It was to assist in the filling-in of the tunnel on the disused Patricroft-Clifton Junction line, which was the scene of a disaster in 1953 when part, below some houses in Swinton, caved in.

2. (figurative) To relent; to grant approval against one's initial will.

   Synonyms: cave, assent, give in, give up, relinquish, yield, comply, acquiesce

   After he asked me a few times, I finally caved in and had a slice of cake.

   • 2022 December 14, Christian Wolmar, “Productivity should play no part in pay negotiations”, in RAIL, number 972, page 46:

     Eventually the NUR overplayed its hands with an all-out strike. And when Peter Parker, the then-chairman of BR, who was well regarded among his staff, called their bluff by threatening to close down the entire network, they caved in.

Translations

to collapse inward or downward

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 落磐 (luòpán)

• Danish: falde sammen, styrte sammen
• Dutch: afkalven (nl)
• Finnish: sortua (fi), romahtaa (fi)
• French: s'effondrer (fr), cabosser (fr)
• Galician: afundir (gl)
• German: einbrechen (de), zusammenbrechen (de)
• Japanese: 凹む (ja) (へこむ, hekomu), 倒れる (ja) (たおれる, taoreru), 窪む (ja) (くぼむ, kubomu)
• Khmer: ស្រុត (km) (srot)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gi etter (no), kollapse, bryte sammen, knele (no)

• Polish: uginać się impf, ugiąć się pf
• Romanian: prăbuși (ro)
• Russian: обваливаться (ru) (obvalivatʹsja), обрушаться (ru) (obrušatʹsja)

to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: паддавацца impf (paddavacca), паддацца pf (paddacca), даваць слабіну impf (davacʹ slabinu), даць слабіну pf (dacʹ slabinu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 屈服 (zh) (qūfú)

• Danish: bryde sammen, kollapse
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: myöntyä (fi), taipua (fi), alistua (fi), antaa myöten (fi)
• French: s'effondrer (fr)
• German: nachgeben (de)
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gi opp (no), kapitulere, resignere

• Polish: uginać się impf, ugiąć się pf
• Romanian: ceda (ro)
• Russian: уступaть (ustupatʹ), прогибаться (ru) (progibatʹsja), сдаваться (ru) (sdavatʹsja), поддаваться давлению (poddavatʹsja davleniju), давать слабину (davatʹ slabinu)
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: ceder (es)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

Noun

cave in (plural cave ins)

1. Misspelling of cave-in.

Anagrams

• Ivanec, cevian, incave