Definition of "grotto" []

• A small cave or cavern. (noun)
• An artificial structure or excavation made to resemble a cave or cavern. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In one marvellous passage he defines the word "grotesque" from the word grotto, a small cave and goes on to sing the praises of the "modern master printers who think like the scribes of our old Icelandic languages" and decorate their texts with impossible creatures –"a centaur here, an old woman with birds' feet there, a three-headed dog"."
• "They had what they called a grotto — a show you'd go to."
• "A little past the grotto is another small piece of water, springing from the centre of which is a rockery tastefully covered with ferns, and forming the pedestal to two statues of children, a boy and girl, the boy holding an umbrella over the girl's head; the trees around cover them with a deep shadow, and the tout ensemble is very pretty and shows great taste."