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cave

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an Aladdin's cave

A place full of treasures. (In The Arabian Nights, Aladdin finds a magic lamp in a cave.) I know you think your garage is full of junk, but to an antiques collector like me, it's an Aladdin's cave!

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man cave

A room or area of a house designated for a man to retreat from the rest of his family and relax or engage in hobbies. My husband is watching the football game in his man cave right now.

See also: cave, man

cave in

[for a roof or ceiling] to collapse. The roof of the mine caved in when no one was there. The tunnel caved in on the train.

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cave in (to someone or something)

Fig. to give in to someone or something. Finally, the manager caved in to the customer's demands. I refuse to cave in under pressure from my opponent.

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cave in (to somebody/something)

to agree to something after originally opposing it give in (to somebody/something) If the pressure from your parents becomes too strong, you might cave in and go to graduate school.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of cave in (to suddenly fall inward)

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an Aladdin's cave

  (British)

a place that contains many interesting or valuable objects (often + of ) We found a shop that was a real Aladdin's cave of beautiful antiques.

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the roof caves/falls in

  (American)

if the roof caves in, something very bad suddenly happens to you For the first six years of my life I was happy. Then my father died and the roof caved in.

See hit the ceiling, raise the roof

See also: cave, roof

cave in

1. Fall in, collapse, as in The earthquake made the walls cave in. [Early 1700s]

2. Give in, admit defeat, as in The prosecutor's questions soon made the witness cave in. [Early 1800s]

3. Collapse, faint, or die from exhaustion, as in After a twenty-mile hike I caved in. [Mid-1800s]

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cave in

v.

To give way; collapse: The sides of the snow fort caved in. The mine shaft caved in on a group of miners, but fortunately they were rescued.

See also: cave