Meanings
present singular third person caves in · participle present caving in · participle past caved in · past caved in · alternative cave-in
- intransitiveTo collapse inward or downward.
The roof caved in under the weight of the snow.
1 more example
It was to assist in the filling-in of the tunnel on the disused Patricroft-Clifton Junction line, which was the scene of a disaster in 1953 when part, below some houses in Swinton, caved in.
1955 June, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 439 - figurativelyintransitiveTo relent; to grant approval against one's initial will.
After he asked me a few times, I finally caved in and had a slice of cake.
1 more example
Eventually the NUR overplayed its hands with an all-out strike. And when Peter Parker, the then-chairman of BR, who was well regarded among his staff, called their bluff by threatening to close down the entire network, they caved in.
2022 December 14, Christian Wolmar, “Productivity should play no part in pay negotiations”, in RAIL, number 972, page 46Synonyms: cave, assent, give in, give up, relinquish, yield, comply, acquiesce
- misspellingMisspelling of cave-in.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo relent; to grant approval against one's initial will.
More synonyms by meaning
verbbreak down, literally or metaphorically
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 屈服, 落磐
- 屈服 (qūfú)(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- 落磐 (luòpán)(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Danish bryde sammen, kollapse
- bryde sammen(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- kollapse(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- falde sammen(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- styrte sammen(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Dutch afkalven
- afkalven(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Finnish myöntyä, taipua
- myöntyä(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- taipua(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- alistua(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- antaa myöten(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- sortua(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- romahtaa(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
French enfoncer, s'effondrer
- enfoncer(transitive) to cause to collapse inward or downward
- s'effondrer(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- s'effondrer(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- s'affaisser(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
German nachgeben, einbrechen
- nachgeben(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- einbrechen(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- zusammenbrechen(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Japanese 凹む, 倒れる
- 凹む (hekomu)(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- 倒れる (taoreru)(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- 窪む (kubomu)(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Norwegian Bokmål gi opp, kapitulere
- gi opp(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- kapitulere(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- resignere(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- gi etter(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- kollapse(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- bryte sammen(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- knele(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Polish uginać, ugiąć
- uginać(transitive) to cause to collapse inward or downward
- ugiąć(transitive) to cause to collapse inward or downward
- zginać(transitive) to cause to collapse inward or downward
- zgiąć(transitive) to cause to collapse inward or downward
- uginać się(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- ugiąć się(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- poddawać się(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- poddać się(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- uginać się(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- ugiąć się(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Romanian ceda, prăbuși
- ceda(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- prăbuși(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Russian уступaть, прогибаться
- уступaть (ustupatʹ)(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- прогибаться (progibatʹsja)(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- сдаваться (sdavatʹsja)(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- поддаваться давлению (poddavatʹsja davleniju)(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- давать слабину (davatʹ slabinu)(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
- обваливаться (obvalivatʹsja)(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
- обрушаться (obrušatʹsja)(intransitive) to collapse inward or downward
Spanish ceder
- ceder(intransitive) to relent, comply, lose willpower, etc.
Cite this entry
cave in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cave%20in
“cave in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cave%20in. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cave in,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cave%20in.
Source: cave in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.