hollow
having a space or cavity inside; not solid; empty: a hollow sphere.
having a depression or concavity: a hollow surface.
sunken, as the cheeks or eyes.
(of sound) not resonant; dull, muffled, or deep: a hollow voice.
without real or significant worth; meaningless: a hollow victory.
insincere or false: hollow compliments.
hungry; having an empty feeling: I feel absolutely hollow, so let's eat.
an empty space within anything; a hole, depression, or cavity.
a valley: They took the sheep to graze in the hollow.
Foundry. a concavity connecting two surfaces otherwise intersecting at an obtuse angle.
to make hollow (often followed by out): to hollow out a log.
to form by making something hollow (often followed by out): to hollow a place in the sand;boats hollowed out of logs.
to become hollow.
in a hollow manner: The politician's accusations rang hollow.
Idioms about hollow
beat all hollow, to surpass or outdo completely: His performance beat the others all hollow.: Also beat hollow.
Origin of hollow
1Other words for hollow
Other words from hollow
- hol·low·ly, adverb
- hol·low·ness, noun
- half-hollow, adjective
- un·hol·low, adjective
- un·hol·lowed, adjective
Words Nearby hollow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hollow in a sentence
The young man weaves through clusters of bamboo and cuts a diagonal slash into a tree, positioning a hollow log at the end.
But Byrne himself is the parodist, and he commands the stage by his hollow-eyed, frosty verve.
The Stacks: Pauline Kael's Talking Heads Obsession | Pauline Kael | November 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe pressed a hollow shell casing into my palm and leaned towards my ear, “I PICKED IT UP FROM THE BEDROOM!”
It will always ring hollow when people try to turn it into a product—no matter how much Bill Clinton gushes over it.
Last year Fox gifted the world with the “Legend of Sleepy hollow” retelling we never knew we needed.
Naked Ben Franklin Christens the Campy Return of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ | Amy Zimmerman | September 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The next instruments discovered in use among the Indians were straight, hollow reeds and forked canes.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.It lit up every ridge and hollow for two or three seconds, and showed me four riders tearing up the slope at a high run.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairThe formula would be: “The pump invented—Drain a well ,” or Water raised in a hollow.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)But, just as they were piling some more leaves in the hollow stump, they heard many voices of men shouting in the woods.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumThat hollow is a very likely place for one of them to run along, therefore the best shot among you had better go up there.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. Ballantyne
British Dictionary definitions for hollow
/ (ˈhɒləʊ) /
having a hole, cavity, or space within; not solid
having a sunken area; concave
recessed or deeply set: hollow cheeks
(of sounds) as if resounding in a hollow place
without substance or validity
hungry or empty
insincere; cynical
a hollow leg or hollow legs the capacity to eat or drink a lot without ill effects
beat someone hollow British informal to defeat someone thoroughly and convincingly
a cavity, opening, or space in or within something
a depression or dip in the land
to make or become hollow
to form (a hole, cavity, etc) or (of a hole, etc) to be formed
Origin of hollow
1Derived forms of hollow
- hollowly, adverb
- hollowness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with hollow
see beat the pants off (hollow).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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