crater Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano
    volcanic crater.
  2. noun a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Hydra and Corvus
  3. noun a bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or bomb

WordNet

Cra"ter noun
Etymology
L. crater, cratera, a mixing vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Gr. , fr. to mix; cf. Skr. to mix, ir to cook, r to cook. Cf. Crail, in Holy Grail.
Definitions
  1. The basinlike opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a gevser, about which a cone of silica is often built up.
  2. (Mil.) The pit left by the explosion of a mine.
  3. (Astron.) A constellation of the southen hemisphere; -- called also the Cup.

Webster 1913