dry hole
Also called duster. any well drilled for oil or gas that does not yield enough to be commercially profitable: After three consecutive dry holes, we were delirious when this site came through big for us.
a failed business venture, especially one that began with expectations and promises of high profitability: How do we explain to our investors yet another dry hole from our video games division?
Origin of dry hole
1Words Nearby dry hole
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dry hole in a sentence
Sometimes you git a payin' well an' a dry hole only a few hunderd feet apart.
David Harum | Edward Noyes WestcottIt was hard work, putting down that well, and up to almost the last moment it promised to be a dry hole.
The Prairie Wife | Arthur StringerAfar from the encampment Poppy had found a big dry hole in the heart of a clump of bushes.
Poppy | Cynthia StockleyEvery dry hole gives a greater chance that the next will be full.
Spinifex and Sand | David W CarnegieThen came the blow-up, and it turned out that his well was just a dry hole in the ground.
Baseball Joe, Captain of the Team | Lester Chadwick
British Dictionary definitions for dry hole
(in the oil industry) a well that is drilled but does not produce oil or gas in commercially worthwhile amounts
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
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