hole

[ hohl ]

/ hoʊl /

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See synonyms for: hole / holed / holes / holing on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

verb (used with object), holed, hol·ing.

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.).

verb (used without object), holed, hol·ing.

to make a hole or holes.

Verb Phrases

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR hole

1, 2 pit, hollow, concavity.

3 den, cave; lair, retreat.

4 hovel, shack.

See synonyms for hole on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hol “hole, cave,” originally neuter of hol (adjective) hollow; cognate with German hohl “hollow”

synonym study for hole

1, 2. Hole, cavity, excavation refer to a hollow place in anything. Hole is the common word for this idea: a hole in turf. Cavity is a more formal or scientific term for a hollow within the body or in a substance, whether with or without a passage outward: a cavity in a tooth; the cranial cavity. An excavation is an extended hole made by digging out or removing material: an excavation before the construction of a building.

OTHER WORDS FROM hole

holeless, adjectiveholey, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH hole

1. hole , whole2. holey , holy, wholly

Words nearby hole

holdup, holdup man, hold water, hold with, hold your, hole, hole-and-corner, hole card, hole-high, hole in one, hole in the heart

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.
The Last Bar Standing?|Eugene Robinson|September 15, 2020|Ozy
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|Fortune
It 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 Online
It’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|FiveThirtyEight

Some 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|DAILY BEAST
I 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|DAILY BEAST
Well 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|DAILY BEAST
Instead 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|DAILY BEAST
There 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|DAILY BEAST
Before he could finish the sentence the Hole-keeper said snappishly, "Well, drop out again—quick!"
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
Kind of a reception-room in there—guess I know a reception-room from a hole in the wall.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
Squinty, several times, looked at the hole under the pen, by which he had once gotten out.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
Madame and myself had just been regretting that we should have to pass the evening in this miserable hole of a town.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
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

hole

/ (həʊl) /

noun

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 holeshis 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

verb

to make a hole or holes in (something)

(when intr, often foll by out) golf to hit (the ball) into the hole

Word Origin for hole

Old English hol; related to Gothic hulundi, German Höhle, Old Norse hylr pool, Latin caulis hollow stem; see hollow

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

Scientific definitions for hole

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.

Other Idioms and Phrases with hole

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

hole

OTHER WORDS FOR hole

Idioms about hole

Origin of hole

synonym study for hole

OTHER WORDS FROM hole

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH hole

Words nearby hole

Words related to hole

How to use hole in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hole

Word Origin for hole

Scientific definitions for hole

Other Idioms and Phrases with hole