— crateral, craterous , adj. — craterlike , adj.
/kray"teuhr/ , n., gen. Crateris /kray tear"is/ for 9, v.
n.
1. the cup-shaped depression or cavity on the surface of the earth or other heavenly body marking the orifice of a volcano.
2. Also called impact crater, meteorite crater . (on the surface of the earth, moon, etc.) a bowl-shaped depression with a raised rim, formed by the impact of a meteoroid. Cf. astrobleme .
3. Astron. (on the surface of the moon) a circular or almost circular area having a depressed floor, almost always containing a central mountain and usually completely enclosed by walls that are often higher than those of a walled plain; ring formation; ring. Cf. walled plain .
4. the bowllike orifice of a geyser.
5. the hole or pit in the ground where a bomb, shell, or military mine has exploded.
6. Elect. the cavity formed in a positive carbon electrode by an electric arc.
7. Gk. and Rom. Antiq. krater.
8. Metalworking. a depression at the end of a bead produced by welding.
9. ( cap. ) Astron. the Cup, a small southern constellation west of Corvus and north of Hydra.
v.t.
10. to make craters in: Bombs had cratered the landscape.
11. Slang.
a. to cancel, abandon, or cast aside: to crater the new project.
b. to destroy or ruin: One more disappointment won't crater me.
v.i.
12. to form a crater or craters: The surface of the concrete cratered and cracked under the repeated impacts.
[ 1605-15; kratér mixing bowl, lit., mixer, equiv. to kra- (base of kerannýnai to mix) + -ter agentive suffix; cf. CRASIS ]