speleologist

Noun

speleologist (plural speleologists)

1. A person who studies or explores caves or studies the science of speleology.
   • Under this heading M. E. A. Martel, the distinguished speleologist or cave-explorer of Europe, whose researches have recently added considerably to our knowledge of the Adelsberg grotto, furnishes to La Nature an interesting account of the episode in the Lueg-Loch or Lur-Loch, near the Styrian...1894 January, “A subterranean drama”, in Around the World, volume 1, number 2
   • The first man known to have descended Gaping Gill is well known on the Continent as an expert cave-explorer or speleologist — to use the new term which he perhaps invented.1895, Joseph Baron, Ribble-land: A Glance at Its Scenery, History and Legendary Lore, page 185

   Synonyms:

   potholer, caver, spelunker