HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
n. A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Hydra and Corvus. [Latin crātēr, mixing bowl, crater; see CRATER.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
cra·ter  (krātər)
Share:
Tweet n. 1. A bowl-shaped depression created by the activity of a volcano or geyser. 2. a. A bowl-shaped depression in a surface made by an explosion or the impact of a body, such as a meteoroid. b. A pit; a hollow. 3. Variant ofkrater. v.cra·tered, cra·ter·ing, cra·ters v.tr. To make craters in:"The missiles did not ... crater the airfield"(Tom Clancy). v.intr. 1. To form a crater or craters. 2. Slang a. To fall and crash violently from a great height. b. To fail utterly:"talked about how tough times were in Texas since the oil business cratered"(Stephen Coonts). [Latincrātēr, fromGreekkrātēr, mixing vessel; see kerə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]  (click for a larger image) cratertop: Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano in northern Tanzania (background) with a crater (foreground) formed by the collapse of a cone on its flank bottom: Meteor Crater, near Winslow, Arizona  (click for a larger image) crater |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
