Cave vs. Dungeon — What's the Difference?

A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground.

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period.

A natural underground chamber in a hillside or cliff

A dark, often underground chamber used to confine prisoners.

Explore caves as a sport

A donjon.

Capitulate or submit under pressure; cave in

An underground prison or vault, typically built underneath a castle.

(among children) look out!

(obsolete) The main tower of a motte or castle; a keep or donjon.

A hollow or natural passage under or into the earth, especially one with an opening to the surface.

(obsolete) A shrewd person.

A storage cellar, especially for wine.

(games) An area inhabited by enemies, containing story objectives, treasure and bosses.

To dig or hollow out.

(BDSM) A room dedicated to sadomasochistic sexual activity.

To cause to collapse or fall in. Often used with in

(transitive) To imprison in a dungeon.

To fall in; collapse. Often used with in

A close, dark prison, commonly, under ground, as if the lower apartments of the donjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons.

To give up all opposition; yield. Often used with in

To shut up in a dungeon.

To explore caves.

The main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress

A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.

A dark cell (usually underground) where prisoners can be confined

A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.

A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.

A place of retreat, such as a man cave.

(caving) A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.

(nuclear physics) A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.

Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.

(mining) A collapse or cave-in.

The vagina.

A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.

(obsolete) Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.

(programming) A code cave.

To surrender.

To collapse.

To hollow out or undermine.

To engage in the recreational exploration of caves.

(mining) In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.

To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.

(obsolete) To dwell in a cave.

Look out!; beware!

A hollow place in the earth, either natural or artificial; a subterraneous cavity; a cavern; a den.

Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.

A coalition or group of seceders from a political party, as from the Liberal party in England in 1866. See Adullam, Cave of, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.

To make hollow; to scoop out.

To dwell in a cave.

To fall in or down; as, the sand bank caved. Hence (Slang), to retreat from a position; to give way; to yield in a disputed matter.

An underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea

Hollow out as if making a cave or opening;

Explore natural caves