crater
1 of 3noun (1)
cra·ter ˈkrā-tər 
plural craters
1
a
: the bowl-shaped depression around the orifice of a volcano
b
: a depression formed by an impact (as of a meteorite)
c
: a hole in the ground made by the explosion of a bomb or shell
2
: an eroded lesion
3
: a dimple in a painted surface
4
Crater, astronomy : a constellation that is visible between the constellations of Corvus and Hydra and that is represented by the figure of a cup
Both the cup and the snake are here in the sky. If you have dark enough skies, you can spot the faint stars of Crater the cup and Hydra the snake to the right of Corvus.
Kevin D. Conod
Kevin D. Conod craterlike
ˈkrā-tər-ˌlīk
adjective crater
2 of 3verb
cratered; cratering; craters
intransitive verb
1
: to exhibit or form craters
2
: to fail or fall suddenly and dramatically : collapse, crash
the deal cratered
cratering stock prices
transitive verb
: to form craters in
crater
3 of 3noun (2)
cra·ter
less common spelling of krater
: a jar or vase of classical antiquity having a large round body and a wide mouth and used for mixing wine and water
Synonyms
Verb
- bomb
- collapse
- fail
- flame out
- flop
- flunk
- fold
- founder
- miss
- strike out
- tank
- wash out
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb The deal cratered when neither party could agree on the final price. Stock prices cratered after the companies' merger.
Recent Examples on the Web Lauren Puckett-pope, ELLE, 2 Sep. 2022 This crater is where Perseverance originally landed on February 18, 2021. Megan Marples, CNN, 20 July 2022 The crater is 450 meters (1,476 feet) in diameter and 300 meters (984 feet) in depth, per the national park. Abigail Adams, PEOPLE.com, 12 July 2022 The new double crater is 28 meters wide in the longest dimension, according to NASA. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 1 July 2022 The crater was so deep a truck could fit into it, the man taking the video can be heard saying. New York Times, 13 Mar. 2022 The largest impact crater is the South Pole–Aitken basin, at 1,550 miles across and eight miles deep. Manasee Wagh, Popular Mechanics, 3 Mar. 2022 Thermal pools, lush calderas, crater lakes and geysers are all a part of the landscape. Forrest Brown, CNN, 21 Aug. 2022 Latest Specs and Details on Bentleys Like the Bacalar, the Batur is named after a body of natural water, in this case Lake Batur, a 290-foot-deep crater lake in Kintamani on the Indonesian island of Bali. Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 21 Aug. 2022 Phillip Nieto, Fox News, 18 Aug. 2022 Prices of vegetable oils globally had surged after the war caused Ukraine’s sunflower oil exports to crater. New York Times, 10 June 2022 While the circumstances of the resignations are unclear, the departures come as Truth Social downloads crater and Trump remains conspicuously absent from the platform. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2022 Then the meme stock craze hit, and AMC (alongside other meme giants like GME) saw its shares soar – and promptly crater when the rush ended. Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 Additionally, private equity funds have a reputation for being less volatile than individual stocks, which can spike or crater based on something as minor as a tweet. Chris Morran, ProPublica, 8 Aug. 2022 That’s the biggest dip and longest run of declines since the spring of 2020 when the onset of pandemic lockdowns led gas prices to crater. Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2022 South Korean government officials told Reuters that their northern neighbor could struggle to fund some of its weapons programs if crypto prices continue to crater. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 29 June 2022 Such laws typically aim to contain risk, since stocks can crater in a downturn and illiquid private market investments can be difficult to cash out of if pension funds need the money to pay benefits. Heather Gillers, WSJ, 26 Apr. 2022 See More
Noun
And so, at the beginning of episode 2 of The Rings of Power, Nori surveys the naked man in the crater. Lauren Puckett-pope, ELLE, 2 Sep. 2022 This crater is where Perseverance originally landed on February 18, 2021. Megan Marples, CNN, 20 July 2022 The crater is 450 meters (1,476 feet) in diameter and 300 meters (984 feet) in depth, per the national park. Abigail Adams, PEOPLE.com, 12 July 2022 The new double crater is 28 meters wide in the longest dimension, according to NASA. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 1 July 2022 The crater was so deep a truck could fit into it, the man taking the video can be heard saying. New York Times, 13 Mar. 2022 The largest impact crater is the South Pole–Aitken basin, at 1,550 miles across and eight miles deep. Manasee Wagh, Popular Mechanics, 3 Mar. 2022 Thermal pools, lush calderas, crater lakes and geysers are all a part of the landscape. Forrest Brown, CNN, 21 Aug. 2022 Latest Specs and Details on Bentleys Like the Bacalar, the Batur is named after a body of natural water, in this case Lake Batur, a 290-foot-deep crater lake in Kintamani on the Indonesian island of Bali. Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 21 Aug. 2022 Verb
However, researchers have now found a new asteroid crater off the coast of West Africa that impacted the Earth around the same time, according to a study released Thursday by Science Advances. Phillip Nieto, Fox News, 18 Aug. 2022 Prices of vegetable oils globally had surged after the war caused Ukraine’s sunflower oil exports to crater. New York Times, 10 June 2022 While the circumstances of the resignations are unclear, the departures come as Truth Social downloads crater and Trump remains conspicuously absent from the platform. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2022 Then the meme stock craze hit, and AMC (alongside other meme giants like GME) saw its shares soar – and promptly crater when the rush ended. Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 Additionally, private equity funds have a reputation for being less volatile than individual stocks, which can spike or crater based on something as minor as a tweet. Chris Morran, ProPublica, 8 Aug. 2022 That’s the biggest dip and longest run of declines since the spring of 2020 when the onset of pandemic lockdowns led gas prices to crater. Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2022 South Korean government officials told Reuters that their northern neighbor could struggle to fund some of its weapons programs if crypto prices continue to crater. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 29 June 2022 Such laws typically aim to contain risk, since stocks can crater in a downturn and illiquid private market investments can be difficult to cash out of if pension funds need the money to pay benefits. Heather Gillers, WSJ, 26 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
borrowed from Latin crātēr, crātēra "mixing bowl, basin of a fountain, bowl-shaped depression around the mouth of a volcano," borrowed from Greek krātḗr "mixing bowl, bowl-shaped depression around the mouth of a volcano," from krā-, variant stem of keránnȳmi, kerannýnai "to mix, mingle (as wine with water)" (going back to Indo-European *ḱerh2-, *ḱr̥h2- "mix," whence also Sanskrit ā́-śīrta- "mixed," Avestan sārəṇtē "[they] meet, unite") + -tēr, instrumental suffix
Verb
derivative of crater entry 1
First Known Use
Noun (1)
1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1884, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Kids Definition
crater
noun
cra·ter ˈkrā-tər
1
: the area around the opening of a volcano or geyser that is shaped like a bowl
2
: a hole (as in the surface of the earth or moon) formed by an impact (as of a meteorite)
Medical Definition
crater
noun
cra·ter ˈkrāt-ər
: an eroded lesion of a wall or surface
ulcer craters
cratering
verb
1
as in collapsing
to be unsuccessful a time when businesses were cratering left and right Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- collapsing
- failing
- flopping
- folding
- bombing
- struggling
- tanking
- missing
- foundering
- flunking
- declining
- slumping
- striking out
- crashing
- flaming out
- crumbling
- skidding
- falling short
- falling flat
- waning
- floundering
- washing out
- slipping
- sinking
- imploding
- laying an egg
- falling on one's face
- dying on the vine
- coming up empty
- coming a cropper
- coming to grief
- misfiring
- self-destructing
- miscarrying
- going under
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- succeeding
- going
- delivering
- working out
- prospering
- cooking
- flourishing
- clicking
- prevailing
- thriving
- coming off
- panning out
- winning
- going over
- triumphing
2
as in plunging
to go to a lower level especially abruptly the stock price cratered when the company filed for Chapter 11 Synonyms & Similar Words
- plunging
- tumbling
- falling
- declining
- dipping
- plummeting
- sinking
- dropping
- skidding
- crashing
- descending
- nose-diving
- decreasing
- diving
- lowering
- diminishing
- subsiding
- retreating
- waning
- dwindling
- ebbing
- lessening
- drooping
- receding
- moderating
- tapering off
- abating
- dying (down)
- de-escalating
- letting up
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- rising
- mounting
- spiking
- soaring
- ascending
- lifting
- arising
- increasing
- building
- growing
- expanding
- mushrooming
- swelling
- escalating
- intensifying
- accumulating
- burgeoning
- waxing
- enlarging
- upping
- ballooning
- snowballing
- picking up
- bourgeoning