hole
an opening through something; gap; aperture: a hole in the roof; a hole in my sock.
a hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity: a hole in the ground.
the excavated habitation of an animal; burrow.
a small, dingy, or shabby place: I couldn't live in a hole like that.
a place of solitary confinement; dungeon.
an embarrassing position or predicament: to find oneself in a hole.
a cove or small harbor.
a fault or flaw: They found serious holes in his reasoning.
a deep, still place in a stream: a swimming hole.
Sports.
a small cavity, into which a marble, ball, or the like is to be played.
a score made by so playing.
Golf.
the circular opening in a green into which the ball is to be played.
a part of a golf course from a tee to the hole corresponding to it, including fairway, rough, and hazards.
the number of strokes taken to hit the ball from a tee into the hole corresponding to it.
Informal. opening; slot: The radio program was scheduled for the p.m. hole. We need an experienced person to fill a hole in our accounting department.
Metalworking. (in wire drawing) one reduction of a section.
Electronics. a mobile vacancy in the electronic structure of a semiconductor that acts as a positive charge carrier and has equivalent mass.
Aeronautics. an air pocket that causes a plane or other aircraft to drop suddenly.
to make a hole or holes in.
to put or drive into a hole.
Golf. to hit the ball into (a hole).
to bore (a tunnel, passage, etc.).
to make a hole or holes.
hole out, Golf. to strike the ball into a hole: He holed out in five, one over par.
hole up,
to go into a hole; retire for the winter, as a hibernating animal.
to hide, as from pursuers, the police, etc.: The police think the bank robbers are holed up in Chicago.
Idioms about hole
burn a hole in one's pocket, to urge one to spend money quickly: His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.
hole in the wall, a small or confining place, especially one that is dingy, shabby, or out-of-the-way: Their first shop was a real hole in the wall.
in a / the hole,
in debt; in straitened circumstances: After Christmas I am always in the hole for at least a month.
Baseball, Softball. pitching or batting with the count of balls or balls and strikes to one's disadvantage, especially batting with a count of two strikes and one ball or none.
Stud Poker. being the card or one of the cards dealt face down in the first round: a king in the hole.
make a hole in, to take a large part of: A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.
pick a hole / holes in, to find a fault or flaw in: As soon as I presented my argument, he began to pick holes in it. : Also poke a hole / holes in.
Origin of hole
1synonym study For hole
Other words for hole
Other words from hole
- holeless, adjective
- holey, adjective
Words that may be confused with hole
Words Nearby hole
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use hole in a sentence
Turns out the watering hole is locally owned and has been around for more than 80 years.
Many security holes can be fixed in time for November if states have the technical expertise to do so.
Voting by mail is more secure than the President says. How to make it even safer | matthewheimer | September 13, 2020 | FortuneIt performed best in the crashing waves but could also be surfed in some of the small holes off the current.
The Gear You Need to Bring on a 225-Mile River Trip | Mitch Breton | September 6, 2020 | Outside OnlineIt’s also important to remember that we’re still very, very deep in the hole we fell into in April, and that job growth in the private sector is slowing.
The Easy Part Of The Economic Recovery Might Be Over | Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux | September 4, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightSome sheaths include holes in their perimeter, allowing you weave paracord through them to create easily customizable mounts.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Knife | Wes Siler | September 3, 2020 | Outside Online
His monotonous music is, really, like the audio soundtrack to a k-hole.
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’ | Marlow Stern | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTI rolled him over to see where it came out, and there was no big hole in the back.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWell over a thousand holes in, I average less than four strokes per hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTInstead of going for the hole, I hit the ball directly into the water.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is only sand, a white ball, and a flag indicating the hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTBefore he could finish the sentence the hole-keeper said snappishly, "Well, drop out again—quick!"
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. CarrylKind of a reception-room in there—guess I know a reception-room from a hole in the wall.
Squinty, several times, looked at the hole under the pen, by which he had once gotten out.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumMadame and myself had just been regretting that we should have to pass the evening in this miserable hole of a town.
And if he was worried about Farmer Green's cat, why didn't he dig a hole for himself at once, and get out of harm's way?
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott Bailey
British Dictionary definitions for hole
/ (həʊl) /
an area hollowed out in a solid
an opening made in or through something
an animal's hiding place or burrow
informal an unattractive place, such as a town or a dwelling
informal a cell or dungeon
US informal a small anchorage
a fault (esp in the phrase pick holes in)
slang a difficult and embarrassing situation
the cavity in various games into which the ball must be thrust
(on a golf course)
the cup on each of the greens
each of the divisions of a course (usually 18) represented by the distance between the tee and a green
the score made in striking the ball from the tee into the hole
physics
a vacancy in a nearly full band of quantum states of electrons in a semiconductor or an insulator. Under the action of an electric field holes behave as carriers of positive charge
(as modifier): hole current
a vacancy in the nearly full continuum of quantum states of negative energy of fermions. A hole appears as the antiparticle of the fermion
in holes so worn as to be full of holes: his socks were in holes
in the hole mainly US
in debt
(of a card, the hole card, in stud poker) dealt face down in the first round
make a hole in to consume or use a great amount of (food, drink, money, etc): to make a hole in a bottle of brandy
to make a hole or holes in (something)
(when intr, often foll by out) golf to hit (the ball) into the hole
Origin of hole
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for hole
[ hōl ]
A gap, usually the valence band of an insulator or semiconductor, that would normally be filled with one electron. If an electron accelerated by a voltage moves into a gap, it leaves a gap behind it, and in this way the hole itself appears to move through the substance. Even though holes are in fact the absence of a negatively charged particle (an electron), they can be treated theoretically as positively charged particles, whose motion gives rise to electric current.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with hole
In addition to the idioms beginning with hole
- hole in one
- hole in the wall
- hole up
also see:
- ace in the hole
- black hole
- in a bind (hole)
- in the hole
- money burns a hole in one's pocket
- need like a hole in the head
- pick holes in
- square peg in a round hole
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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