spelunker

Etymology

spelunk +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʌŋkə(r)

Noun

spelunker (plural spelunkers)

1. One who explores caves; one who spelunks; caver.
2. (pejorative) An amateur or inadequately prepared caver.
   • 2003, Dangerous Dick & the Duckbusters, Creepy Crawlways:

     But the scariest of all’s the witless caver;
     Spelunker is the name that he goes by.
     He caves alone with just one light,
     A worn-out rope, and boots too tight,
     Looking for a cave in which to die.

   • 2011, Michael Gordon, Caving in Ontario: Exploring Buried Karst:

     it is a truth that every caver was once a spelunker with a flashlight and a tangled ball of string.