Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Crater \Cra"ter\ (kr?t?r), n. [L. crater, cratera, a mixing
   vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Gr. krath`r, fr. keranny`nai
   to mix; cf. Skr. [,c]r[imac] to mix, [,c]ir to cook,
   [,c]r[=a] to cook. Cf. {Grail}, in Holy Grail.]
   1. The basinlike opening or mouth of a volcano, through which
      the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a
      geyser, about which a cone of silica is often built up.

   2. (Mil.) The pit left by the explosion of a mine.

   3. (Astron.) A constellation of the southen hemisphere; --
      called also the {Cup}.

Source : WordNet®

crater
     n 1: a bowl-shaped opening at the top of a volcano [syn: {volcanic
          crater}]
     2: a faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Hydra
        and Corvus
     3: a bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite
        or bomb