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🕳️ A large chamber 🤦 To give in 💥 To collapse 🧗 To explore caves 🌊 To hollow out
to cave

to cave

71 6.7
To give in to pressure or demands
  • verb
  • /keɪv/
  • Informal
translation icon : ceder ante
  • I should have tried harder, stayed with it instead of caving in and saying the hell with it.
  • cave in to pressure
  • eventually caved

I just, you cannot cave in the food justice system.

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Examples

  • The union caved in yesterday.

    Billy Elliot (2000)

  • The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology are over.

    I've Had It

  • I also do think they cave to the pressure.

  • If Ukraine wants to feed its own people, it has to cave to Russian demand.

  • Another 20 or so countries in the region have refused to cave in.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Great people are people who don't cave in.

  • However, Clinton caved to congressional pressure and issued the visa.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The party leadership caved in to demands of local LDP chapters for a voice in selecting their president.

    Academic text (2002)

  • And he's determined to uphold the rule of law instead of caving to intimidation.

  • Despite initial resistance, many businesses are willing to cave to consumer demands during a crisis.

Synonyms

to give in
vsto cave
220 3.0

To stop resisting and agree to what others want

is a more informal expression for the same reluctant agreement
to yield
vsto cave
81 4.3

To stop resisting under pressure or force

is the informal, casual way to express this general yielding
to succumb to
vsto cave
69 5.8

Fail to resist a strong feeling or pressure and give in

is the informal phrasal form that conveys the same yielding
to succumb
vsto cave
43 7.0

To accept something you tried to refuse

is similar but is often used in everyday informal speech
to relent
vsto cave
31 5.8

To stop resisting and allow something to happen, like a person giving in or a storm easing

is more casual and focuses on yielding after some initial resistance
to capitulate
vsto cave
23 8.4

To stop fighting back and accept defeat or demands

is informal and usually implies surrender without formal negotiation
to cave in
vsto cave
  • Informal
21 4.8

Give in to pressure or strong requests after resisting

is the informal form meaning that same reluctant yielding after resistance
to acquiesce
vsto cave
  • Formal
20 8.4

To accept something you do not want without complaining

is more informal and often suggests a clearer loss of resistance
to cave to
vsto cave
  • Informal
5 7.6

To give in to pressure or demands from others

is an informal way to describe this same surrender after resisting
to knuckle under
vsto cave
  • Informal
4 8.4

To give in to pressure or someone in charge even if you do not want to

is a casual expression that describes the same unwilling submission
to buckle under
vsto cave
2 6.7

To give in to pressure even though you do not want to

is an informal way to describe this reluctant agreement under force
to buckle to
vsto cave
2 8.4

To give in to pressure or criticism

is the informal phrasal alternative for this act of yielding
to bend to someone's will
vsto cave
7.1

To do what someone else wants even if you do not want to

is an informal, general term for yielding not limited to persons
to fold like a cheap suit
vsto cave
  • Informal
9.6

To give in easily when under pressure

is informal too but does not imply easy or shameful collapse

Antonyms

to resist
311 2.2

Act against authority, rules or change

to stand firm
22 3.7

Keep your decision or opinion when others try to make you change

Phrasal Verbs

to cave in
22 3.7

Suddenly fall inward because its sides or top become weak, for example a tunnel

to cave in
  • Informal
21 4.8

Give in to pressure or strong requests after resisting

to cave to
  • Informal
5 7.6

To give in to pressure or demands from others

Compounds

cave-in
9 7.1

A sudden collapse of the ground or a building into the space below

man cave
8 5.1

A room in a home where a man relaxes and enjoys hobbies

cave dweller
1 6.0

A person or animal that lives in a cave, often in ancient times

cave man
1 4.3

A very early person who lived in caves long ago

cave woman
1 6.7

A woman from long ago who lived in caves and used simple tools

cave bat
8.6

A small dull yellow-brown flying animal with large ears that lives in caves

cave dweller
7.4

A person who lives alone and avoids meeting other people

cave myotis
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bat with large ears that lives in caves in the southwestern United States and Mexico

Cave of Adullam
  • Literature
9.9

A safe place where people who are sad or in trouble meet and find support

Fingal's Cave
9.3

A large sea cave on the island of Staffa in Scotland with tall dark rock columns and strong echoes

Mammoth Cave National Park
3.6

A national park in Kentucky with a very large cave system and an underground river

Wind Cave National Park
5.2

A national park in South Dakota with limestone caves and bison herds

How Yielding

to succumb
44 6.6
to give way
35 4.2
to cave
  • Informal
71 6.7
to resist
311 2.2

Surface Forms

cave infinitive
caved past
caved past participle
caving present participle
caves third person singular

Etymology

Cave (informal 'give in') is best remembered as a short form of 'cave in'; a helpful way to remember it is to think of a structure that collapses under pressure, so a person who caves stops resisting and yields.