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to cradle

to cradle

9.8
Wash gravel in a rocking box to find gold
  • verb
  • /ˈkreɪdəl/
  • Archaic
: lavar en una batea

Examples

  • She left the lake cradled on wooden supports, atop an iron platform that traveled on tracks.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The mere sight of a circular blade cradled in a handle holds no mystery as to its use; however, the story of its evolution is far more layered.

    Blog text (1)
  • As she watched through the glass, she got the impression Candy was arguing; her hands gave her away—she cradled the phone between her cheek and shoulder to gesture as if the caller could actually see her.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The miners cradle the gravel in the rocking device to wash away impurities and separate the gold.

  • To extract the gold efficiently, they cradle the mixture in a box-like trough while pouring water over it.

  • Using a technique from the past, they learned to cradle the gold-rich gravel through a small wooden device.

Idioms

3 8.7

Date or marry someone much younger, often seen as wrong by others

Lasts from a person's birth to their death

Compounds

Lasting for a person's whole life or for the whole time something exists

4 8.1

A children's game using a loop of string to make shapes or a tangled situation

cradle robber
  • Offensive
1 8.8

A person who dates someone much younger than them

1 5.8

A patch of yellow, greasy, scaly skin on a baby's scalp

cradle snatcher
  • Offensive
1 8.7

A person who dates someone much younger

sea cradle
  • Specialized
9.9

A sea animal with a shell of eight hard plates that clings to rocks

How Thoroughly

to refine
  • Specialized
14 3.9
to process
411 3.0
to sluice
  • Specialized
1 7.4
to cradle
  • Archaic
9.8
to pan
  • Specialized
5 7.7

Surface Forms

cradle infinitive
cradled past
cradled past participle
cradling present participle
cradles third person singular

Etymology

To cradle gravel comes from using the miner's cradle box to find gold, so to cradle gold means to wash and rock dirt in that box to catch small nuggets. The verb keeps the idea of rocking and holding material safely while you search.