cavity
nounUS [ˈkʰæv.ɨɾ.i] · /ˈkæv.ɪt.i/
Etymology From Middle French cavité or Late Latin cavitās, from cav(i) (“hollow, excavated, concave”) + -tās (“-ity”, nominal suffix). First attested in the Mid-16th c.
› A hole or hollow depression in a solid object.
2
Business, Engineering, Manufacturing, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The female part of a mold: the depression itself or (metonymically) the half of the mold that contains it.
3
Dentistry, Medicine, Sciences A small or large hole in a tooth caused by caries; often also a soft area adjacent to the hole also affected by caries.
- Jim got two cavities filled at the dentist's office yesterday.
- Derived terms
- anticavity, body cavity search, cavicapture, cavitand, cavitation, cavitied, cavityless, cavity magnetron, cavity QED, cavity quantum electrodynamics, cavity resonator, cavity search, cavity wall, centre of cavity, cotyloid cavity, gastrovascular cavity, intracavity, intracavital, microwave resonant cavity thruster, mouth cavity, multicavity, pelvic cavity, pulp cavity, subcavity