dry hole

[ drahy-hohl ]

/ ˈdraɪ ˈhoʊl /

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noun

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?

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Origin of dry hole

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Words nearby dry hole

dry freeze, dry gangrene, Drygas, dry goods, dry-gulch, dry hole, Dry Ice, drying, drying oil, drying-out, dry kiln

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 Westcott
It 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 Stringer
Afar from the encampment Poppy had found a big dry hole in the heart of a clump of bushes.
Poppy|Cynthia Stockley
Every dry hole gives a greater chance that the next will be full.
Spinifex and Sand|David W Carnegie

Then 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

dry hole

noun

(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