bolt-hole
Americannoun
-
a hole in the ground, protected opening in bushes, etc., into which an animal can flee when pursued or frightened.
-
a place or avenue of escape or refuge.
The remote mountain village was a safe bolt-hole for refugees during the war.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bolt-hole
First recorded in 1830–40
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.
One of the first, exclusive members-only social clubs, Soho House debuted in London in 1995 and quickly became the bolt-hole of choice for celebrities and the deep-pocketed.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2026
The quiet fishing village seemed a perfect bolt-hole in the second autumn of the pandemic.
From Washington Post • Nov. 18, 2021
Massimo went off with Mandy to her family bolt-hole in the Caribbean, Billy held a dinner party which was a qualified success.
From The New Yorker • May 18, 2015
Almost from the start, Indochine, a bolt-hole just off Astor Place on Lafayette Street, had about it a kind of clubby quality, along with that other lightning-in-a-bottle element: buzz.
From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2011
Covered with mud from whatever bolt-hole she’d found, but alive nonetheless.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
