[cra.dle] n [ME cradel, fr. OE cradol; perh. akin to OHG kratto basket, Skt grantha knot] (bef. 12c) 1 a: a bed or cot for a baby usu. on rockers or pivots b: a framework or support suggestive of a baby's cradle: as (1): a framework of bars and rods (2): the support for a telephone receiver or handset c: an implement with rods like fingers attached to a scythe and used formerly for harvesting grain d: a frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with an injured part of the body
2. a: the earliest period of life: infancy "from the ~ to the grave" b: a place of origin "the ~ of civilization"
3: a rocking device used in panning for gold
[2]cradle vb cra.dled ; cra.dling vt (15c) 1 a: to place or keep in or as if in a cradle b: shelter, rear c: to support protectively or intimately "cradling the injured man's head in her arms"
2: to cut (grain) with a cradle scythe
3: to place, raise, support, or transport on a cradle ~ vi, obs: to rest in or as if in a cradle