Definition of "cradle" []

• A small low bed for an infant, often furnished with rockers. (noun)
• The earliest period of life: had an interest in music almost from the cradle. (noun)
• A place of origin; a birthplace: the cradle of civilization. (noun)
• A framework of wood or metal used to support something, such as a ship undergoing construction or repair. (noun)
• A framework used to protect an injured limb. (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.

• "Earlier this year, his materials firm, MBDC, told GreenBlue it would have to license the term cradle to cradle if the nonprofit wanted to use it."
• "Indeed, some have argued that the [GreenBlue's Sustainable Packaging Coalition] is succeeding despite McDonough: Earlier this year, his materials firm, MBDC, told GreenBlue it would have to license the term cradle to cradle if the nonprofit wanted to use it."
• "We're at a point in our history, with 6.4 billion of us, that we have to imagine what it would be like to redesign design itself, see design as the first signal of human intention, and realize that we need new intentions for our future where materials are seen as things that are highly valuable and need to go in closed cycles — what we call cradle to cradle, instead of cradle to grave."