grotto.

A small cave, especially one that is attractive, sheltered, or made as a decorative feature.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a hidden grotto
• a garden grotto

On the page

Beyond the waterfall, a grotto opened into a chamber of pale stone.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting / environment. Forms: Singular grotto; plural grottoes or grottos. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: setting, description. Commonness: moderately common.