Word.ws English Dictionary

spelunking

spelunking noun: the practice or hobby of exploring underground caverns. Also the present participle and gerund of spelunk.

Noun

spelunking (usually uncountable, plural spelunkings)

  1. (usually) The practice or hobby of exploring underground caverns.
    • In the great myths, the adventures are external, even when they involve such metaphorical spelunkings as the voyage into the underworld.2001, Nancy Hathaway, The Friendly Guide to Mythology, page 277
    Synonyms:
    caving

Also used as

spelunking is also the present participle and gerund of spelunk.

spelunking meaning in Vietnamese

spelunking in Vietnamese

exploring underground caverns
sự thích khảo sát hang động

Synonyms of spelunking

Forms of spelunking

pluralspelunkings

Origin of spelunking

From spelunk + -ing. Back-formation from spelunker. Attested since 1946.

Questions about spelunking

What does spelunking mean?
Spelunking means the practice or hobby of exploring underground caverns.
What is spelunking in Vietnamese?
Spelunking in Vietnamese is sự thích khảo sát hang động. See Spelunking meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is spelunking?
Spelunking is a noun.
What is the plural of spelunking?
The plural of spelunking is spelunkings.

Words near spelunking in the dictionary

  1. speluncs
  2. spelunk
  3. spelunked
  4. spelunker
  5. spelunkers
  6. spelunking
  7. spelunkings
  8. spelunks
  9. spen
  10. spenard
  11. spenard divorce

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spelunking (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “spelunking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spelunking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.