cradle
1. cra.dle \'kra-d-*l\ n [ME cradel, fr. OE cradel; akin to OHG kratto
basket, Skt ]grantha knot 1a: a bed or cot for a baby usu. on rockers or
pivots 1b: a place of origin 2: a framework or support suggestive of a
baby's cradle : as 2a1: a framework of bars and rods 2a2: the support for
a telephone receiver or handset 2b1: an implement with rods like fingers
attached to a scythe and used form erly for harvesting grain 2b2: a low
frame on casters on which mechanics lie while working under an a utomobile
2c: a frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with an injured part of the
body 3: a rocking device used in panning for gold
2. cradle \'kra-d-lin, -*l-in\ vb or cra.dling 1a: to place or keep in or
as if in a cradle 1b: SHELTER, REAR 1c: to support protectively or
intimately 2: to cut (grain) with a cradle scythe 3: to place, raise,
support, or transport on a cradle 4: to wash in a miner's cradle obs :
to rest in or as if in a cradle