hole

[ hohl ]

noun

1. an opening through something; gap; aperture:

   a hole in the roof;

   a hole in my sock.

   Synonyms: concavity, hollow, pit

2. a hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity:

   a hole in the ground.

   Synonyms: concavity, hollow, pit

3. the excavated habitation of an animal; burrow.

   Synonyms: retreat, lair, cave, den

4. a small, dingy, or shabby place:

   I couldn't live in a hole like that.

   Synonyms: shack, hovel

5. a place of solitary confinement; dungeon.
6. an embarrassing position or predicament:

   to find oneself in a hole.

7. a cove or small harbor.
8. a fault or flaw:

   They found serious holes in his reasoning.

9. a deep, still place in a stream:

   a swimming hole.

10. Sports.
    1. a small cavity, into which a marble, ball, or the like is to be played.
    2. a score made by so playing.
11. Golf.
    1. the circular opening in a green into which the ball is to be played.
    2. a part of a golf course from a tee to the hole corresponding to it, including fairway, rough, and hazards.
    3. the number of strokes taken to hit the ball from a tee into the hole corresponding to it.
12. 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.

13. Metalworking. (in wire drawing) one reduction of a section.
14. Electronics. a mobile vacancy in the electronic structure of a semiconductor that acts as a positive charge carrier and has equivalent mass.
15. Aeronautics. an air pocket that causes a plane or other aircraft to drop suddenly.

verb (used with object)

, holed, hol·ing.

1. to make a hole or holes in.
2. to put or drive into a hole.
3. Golf. to hit the ball into (a hole).
4. to bore (a tunnel, passage, etc.).

verb (used without object)

, holed, hol·ing.

1. to make a hole or holes.

verb phrase

1. Golf. to strike the ball into a hole:

   He holed out in five, one over par.

2. 1. to go into a hole; retire for the winter, as a hibernating animal.
   2. to hide, as from pursuers, the police, etc.:

      The police think the bank robbers are holed up in Chicago.

hole

/ həʊl /

noun

1. an area hollowed out in a solid
2. an opening made in or through something
3. an animal's hiding place or burrow
4. informal.
   an unattractive place, such as a town or a dwelling
5. informal.
   a cell or dungeon
6. informal.
   a small anchorage
7. a fault (esp in the phrase pick holes in )
8. slang.
   a difficult and embarrassing situation
9. the cavity in various games into which the ball must be thrust
10. on a golf course
    1. the cup on each of the greens
    2. each of the divisions of a course (usually 18) represented by the distance between the tee and a green
    3. the score made in striking the ball from the tee into the hole
11. physics
    1. 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
    2. ( as modifier )

       hole current

    3. a vacancy in the nearly full continuum of quantum states of negative energy of fermions. A hole appears as the antiparticle of the fermion
12. in holes
    so worn as to be full of holes

    his socks were in holes

13. in the hole
    1. in debt
    2. (of a card, the hole card, in stud poker) dealt face down in the first round
14. 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

1. to make a hole or holes in (something)
2. whenintr, often foll by out golf to hit (the ball) into the hole

hole

/ hōl /

1. 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 Words From

• hole·less adjective
• hol·ey adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hole¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hol “hole, cave,” originally neuter of hol (adjective) hollow none; cognate with German hohl “hollow”

Word History and Origins

Origin of hole¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. burn a hole in one's pocket, to urge one to spend money quickly:

   His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.

2. 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.

3. in a / the hole,
   1. in debt; in straitened circumstances:

      After Christmas I am always in the hole for at least a month.

   2. 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.
   3. Stud Poker. being the card or one of the cards dealt face down in the first round:

      a king in the hole.

4. make a hole in, to take a large part of:

   A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.

5. pick a hole / holes in, to find a fault or flaw in: Also poke a holeholes in.

   As soon as I presented my argument, he began to pick holes in it.

More idioms and phrases containing hole

• 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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Turns out the watering hole is locally owned and has been around for more than 80 years.

From Ozy

Many security holes can be fixed in time for November if states have the technical expertise to do so.

From Fortune

It performed best in the crashing waves but could also be surfed in some of the small holes off the current.

From 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.

From FiveThirtyEight

Some sheaths include holes in their perimeter, allowing you weave paracord through them to create easily customizable mounts.

From Outside Online

His monotonous music is, really, like the audio soundtrack to a k-hole.

From The Daily Beast

I rolled him over to see where it came out, and there was no big hole in the back.

From The Daily Beast

Well over a thousand holes in, I average less than four strokes per hole.

From The Daily Beast

Instead of going for the hole, I hit the ball directly into the water.

From The Daily Beast

There is only sand, a white ball, and a flag indicating the hole.

From The Daily Beast

Before he could finish the sentence the Hole-keeper said snappishly, "Well, drop out again—quick!"

From Project Gutenberg

Kind of a reception-room in there—guess I know a reception-room from a hole in the wall.

From Project Gutenberg

Squinty, several times, looked at the hole under the pen, by which he had once gotten out.

From Project Gutenberg

Madame and myself had just been regretting that we should have to pass the evening in this miserable hole of a town.

From Project Gutenberg

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?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• break
• crack
• crater
• cut
• dent
• gap
• mouth
• pit
• pocket
• tunnel
• void
• window