căverna, ae, f. [cavus],
a hollow , cavity , cave , cavern , grotto , hole : caverna terrae, Lucr. 6, 597; Cic. N. D. 2, 9, 25; 2, 60, 151: silicum, rocky vaults (of the interior of Aetna), Luc. 6, 683, for which curvae cavernae, Verg. A. 3, 674: imae, Ov. M. 5, 502; 6, 698: caecae, id. ib. 5, 639; 15, 299: navium, the holds of ships , Cic. de Or. 3, 46, 180 Orell. N. cr. : puppis, Luc. 9, 110: aurium loco, Plin. 11, 37, 50, § 137: vasorum fictilium, id. 12, 3, 7, § 16: arboris, clefts , Gell. 15, 16, 3 al.: caeli, the vault of heaven , Lucr. 4, 171; 6, 252; Cic. Arat. 253: aetheriae, Lucr. 4, 391; aëris, Manil. 1, 202; the excrementary canal of animals , Plin. 8, 55, 81, § 218; 28, 8, 27, § 106; 30, 15, 47, § 137; hence, utraque (mulieris), Aus. Epigr. 71, 7.