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hole
[hohl]
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)
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)
to make a hole or holes.
verb phrase
hole out, 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.
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
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
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
so worn as to be full of holes
his socks were in holes
in debt
(of a card, the hole card, in stud poker) dealt face down in the first round
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)
golf to hit (the ball) into the hole
hole
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 Word Forms
- holeless adjective
- holey adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of hole1
Idioms and Phrases
burn a hole in one's pocket, to urge one to spend money quickly.
His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.
make a hole in, to take a large part of.
A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.
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.
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.
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.
More idioms and phrases containing hole
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
You cannot just slouch in off the street on a whim, assuming you have a couple hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket.
When their cores collapse, they explode as Type II supernovae, leaving behind either a neutron star or black hole.
And when every cell phone vibration is liable to drive you up the wall, the last thing you need is a burst pipe and a giant hole in your ceiling.
Money-management and communication problems are two of the easiest rabbit holes to fall into as a married couple, especially two people who are under a lot of stress raising kids and holding down jobs.
In four-ball, each player competes individually with only the best score from each two-man team counting on every hole—if Scottie Scheffler makes a birdie, it doesn’t matter if his U.S. teammate bogeys.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from 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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