grotto
/ˈɡɹɑ.toʊ/ noun C2- A small cave.
- An artificial cavern-like retreat.
- A Marian shrine, usually built in a cavern-like structure.
- A local organization of cavers that typically organizes trips to caves and provides information and training for caving; a caving club.
- A secretive name for a local group of underground Satanists.
- A garden or roadside shrine with a small cave containing a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (usually Our Lady of Lourdes and sometimes paired with a water feature)
Plural grottos
From the library
“Yes,” said he, “I made a vow, to our Lady of the Grotto not to cut my hair or beard for ten years if I were saved in a moment of danger; but today the vow expires.”
He ascended into grottos paved with emeralds, with panels of rubies, and the roof glowing with diamond stalactites.
He then endeavored to re-enter the marvellous grottos, but they had suddenly receded, and now the path became a labyrinth, and then the entrance vanished, and in vain did he tax his memory for the magic and mysterious word which opened the splendid caverns of Ali Baba to the Arabian fisherman.
“Should we not do better in the grottos?”
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