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Synonyms

cubbyhole

American  
[kuhb-ee-hohl] / ˈkʌb iˌhoʊl /

noun

  • cubbyholes
    plural
  1. pigeonhole.

  2. a small, snug place.


cubbyhole British  
/ ˈkʌbɪˌhəʊl /

noun

  1. a small enclosed space or room

  2. any small compartment, such as a pigeonhole

"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 Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of cubbyhole

First recorded in 1835–45; cubby + hole

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Previosly voted Wales' favourite word, Cwtch means hug or cuddle - however it's second meaning is a cubbyhole or cupboard; a small space in which to store things safely.

From BBC Jul. 18, 2024

She was one of just two women on Brzezinski’s staff and occupied a windowless cubbyhole in the West Wing, but Dr. Albright relished her proximity to power.

From Washington Post Mar. 23, 2022

And when you sneeze in one cubbyhole, a stranger in another calls out, “Bless you.”

From Seattle Times Jan. 1, 2022

Or merely find your little cubbyhole in the cosmos.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 15, 2019

It was my plot of earth, my cubbyhole.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

By contrast, “Untitled” from 1998 is a grid of black cubbyholes, each one containing a found treasure: a baby doll’s head, a Japanese daruma doll, a plastic apple, the head of the Red Power Ranger.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 10, 2023

Different passes allow different levels of access to halls, bars, committee rooms and cubbyholes within the Victorian-age premises.

From Seattle Times Dec. 6, 2021

“One of the young residents there in the early 1980s said: ‘They may be hiding at the Barbizon in their little cubbyholes, but they are still here in New York.

From The Guardian Mar. 14, 2021

To accommodate them, Capitol carpenters have installed a cabinet of cubbyholes, complete with charging cables, in the cloakrooms just outside the Senate floor.

From New York Times Jan. 17, 2020

Long loops and strands of yarn dangled out of the cubbyholes, and the browns and grays and purples were mixed in with the ochres and olive greens and dark blues.

From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau

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