cellar

plural cellars · alternative obsolete seller

1. An enclosed underground space, often under a building, used for storage or shelter.

   The farmhouse has several additions, added over many decades; it has three cellars, and one of them is older than the other two.

2. A wine collection, especially when stored in a cellar.

   The insurance company valued his cellar at $27,000, largely on the strength of his bottles of 1972 Château Hypothetica.

3. slangLast place in a league or competition; some rank near last place.

   The Tigers have been in the cellar all year long, and I'm tired of it.

4. NortheasternUKUSA basement.

   Most of my tools and hardware are in the garage, but I keep some tools in the cellar, too, mainly for convenience.

present singular third person cellars · participle present cellaring · participle past cellared · past cellared

1. transitiveTo store (something, especially food or wine) in a cellar.

   Mr. VandenBerghe says he’s cellared such memorable bottles as the Batch 1 Adam from Hair of the Dog, a 14-year-old ale from Portland, Ore., that’s 10 percent alcohol, and the Trappistes Rochefort 10, a Quadrupel Belgian ale that peaks around age 10.

   2008 June 25, Lucy Burningham, “Beer lovers make room for brews worth a wait”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC

plural cellars

1. salt cellar