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spelunk

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spelunk¹

  • /spəˈlʌŋk/
  • /spiːˈlʌŋk/

Rhymes with -ʌŋk

Where it comes from

From Middle English spelunke, from Old French spelonque and/or Latin spelunca, from Ancient Greek σπῆλυγξ (spêlunx, “cave”), related to σπέος (spéos). Cognates include Middle Dutch spelunke, spelonke, German Spelunke.

noun spelunks · spelunc

  1. obsolete A cave, cavern or grotto.

spelunk²

  • /spəˈlʌŋk/
  • /spiːˈlʌŋk/

Rhymes with -ʌŋk

Where it comes from

U.S., 1940s. Back-formation from spelunker.

verb spelunks · spelunking · spelunked · spelunc

  1. To explore caves.
  2. To explore a system in depth.

Similar: cave

Thesaurus

verb

Similar: cave

Translations

Every language

verb to explore caves

Españolhacer espeleología
Русскийиссле́довать пещеры isslédovatʹ peščery, занима́ться спелеологией zanimátʹsja speleologijej

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MLA

"spelunk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spelunk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spelunk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spelunk

Chicago

"spelunk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spelunk.

BibTeX
@misc{spelunk_2026,
  title = {spelunk},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spelunk},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}