Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The practice or hobby of exploring underground caverns; caving.
  • verb Present participle of spelunk. (to explore underground caves).

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Edick's background in spelunking no doubt helped a bit.

    Spelunking for Ancestors 2006

  • Though I'm a bit disturbed by the idea of spelunking poor Jig...

    Mad Libs Reviewing jimhines 2010

  • As you might expect, this involves a certain amount of spelunking, which is not something everyone wants to do.

    Julia Moulden: Can (Goat's Milk) Ice Cream Save The World? 2008

  • Rabies: Preexposure vaccination should be considered for persons staying longer than 30 days who are expected to be at risk to bites from domestic and/or wild animals (particularly dogs), or for persons engaged in high risk activities such as spelunking or animal handling.

    Mexico - travelers's summary profile 2007

  • Rabies: Preexposure vaccination should be considered for persons staying longer than 30 days who are expected to be at risk to bites from domestic and/or wild animals (particularly dogs), or for persons engaged in high risk activities such as spelunking or animal handling.

    Mexico - travelers's summary profile 2007

  • At Jesus Camp, the daily activities include standard camp fare such as spelunking and go-karts, but they also include speaking in tongues and smashing coffee mugs emblazoned with the word "government".

    Jesus Camp: American Evangelical Christian Fanaticism JDsg 2006

  • At Jesus Camp, the daily activities include standard camp fare such as spelunking and go-karts, but they also include speaking in tongues and smashing coffee mugs emblazoned with the word "government".

    Archive 2006-09-01 JDsg 2006

  • Mr. Grmovsek, a former business lawyer, and his law school friend Gil Cornblum, obtained lucrative secrets about pending takeover deals and other corporate events by initiating what they described as "spelunking" hunts through the offices and files of Toronto and New York law firms that employed Mr. Cornblum.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2010

  • With spelunking being a task that has to be done in the order of arrival, there's not a lot of opportunity to make up time.

    Amazing Race's Ron and Bill: We Couldn't Recover From Two Bad Cabbies 2011

  • Bill: The fact that they were still there — Marcus and Amani were in the first group to leave spelunking — we were happy to see them knowing we left last.

    Amazing Race's Ron and Bill: We Couldn't Recover From Two Bad Cabbies 2011

Comments

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  • I recently discovered that this word comes from Latin (spelunca, -ae: cave). I was so shocked that I had to come here and write about it. Honestry, if I were to give a list of words that definitely weren't from Latin, this would have been pretty high up. Language can surprise us all.

    The word itself means "caving". However, within the caving community there is quite a snobbery: "caving" is reserved for the circumspect, sensible professionals, whereas "spelunking" is used for those amateurs who rush into things and need rescuing later on. Hence the bumper sticker: "Cavers rescue spelunkers".

    In any case, I love the sound of the word.

    December 14, 2007

  • Cave exploring.

    June 11, 2009