hole
Americannoun
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an opening through something; gap; aperture.
a hole in the roof;
a hole in my sock.
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a hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity.
a hole in the ground.
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the excavated habitation of an animal; burrow.
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a small, dingy, or shabby place.
I couldn't live in a hole like that.
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a place of solitary confinement; dungeon.
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an embarrassing position or predicament.
to find oneself in a hole.
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a cove or small harbor.
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a fault or flaw.
They found serious holes in his reasoning.
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a deep, still place in a stream.
a swimming hole.
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Sports.
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a small cavity, into which a marble, ball, or the like is to be played.
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a score made by so playing.
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Golf.
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the circular opening in a green into which the ball is to be played.
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a part of a golf course from a tee to the hole corresponding to it, including fairway, rough, and hazards.
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the number of strokes taken to hit the ball from a tee into the hole corresponding to it.
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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.
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Metalworking. (in wire drawing) one reduction of a section.
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Electronics. a mobile vacancy in the electronic structure of a semiconductor that acts as a positive charge carrier and has equivalent mass.
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Aeronautics. an air pocket that causes a plane or other aircraft to drop suddenly.
verb (used with object)
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to make a hole or holes in.
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to put or drive into a hole.
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Golf. to hit the ball into (a hole).
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to bore (a tunnel, passage, etc.).
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
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hole out to strike the ball into a hole.
He holed out in five, one over par.
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hole up
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to go into a hole; retire for the winter, as a hibernating animal.
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to hide, as from pursuers, the police, etc..
The police think the bank robbers are holed up in Chicago.
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idioms
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burn a hole in one's pocket, to urge one to spend money quickly.
His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.
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make a hole in, to take a large part of.
A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.
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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.
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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.
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in a / the hole,
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in debt; in straitened circumstances.
After Christmas I am always in the hole for at least a month.
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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.
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Stud Poker. being the card or one of the cards dealt face down in the first round.
a king in the hole.
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noun
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an area hollowed out in a solid
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an opening made in or through something
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an animal's hiding place or burrow
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informal an unattractive place, such as a town or a dwelling
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informal a cell or dungeon
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informal a small anchorage
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a fault (esp in the phrase pick holes in )
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slang a difficult and embarrassing situation
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the cavity in various games into which the ball must be thrust
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the cup on each of the greens
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each of the divisions of a course (usually 18) represented by the distance between the tee and a green
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the score made in striking the ball from the tee into the hole
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physics
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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
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( as modifier )
hole current
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a vacancy in the nearly full continuum of quantum states of negative energy of fermions. A hole appears as the antiparticle of the fermion
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so worn as to be full of holes
his socks were in holes
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in debt
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(of a card, the hole card, in stud poker) dealt face down in the first round
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to consume or use a great amount of (food, drink, money, etc)
to make a hole in a bottle of brandy
verb
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to make a hole or holes in (something)
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golf to hit (the ball) into the hole
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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holesimple
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holessimple
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have holedperfect
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has holedperfect
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am holingprogressive
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are holingprogressive
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is holingprogressive
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have been holingperfect progressive
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has been holingperfect progressive
Past
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holedsimple
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had holedperfect
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was holingprogressive
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were holingprogressive
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had been holingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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”
Explanation
A hole isn't just a hollow space dug out of the ground or punched out of something. When you're talking casually with friends, you can also call a place that's small or dumpy a hole, like a rundown town or a really tiny apartment. The word hole comes from the Old English hol meaning "cave" which in prehistoric times wasn't just a dark space to hide, it was a home. The word hole is used in many contexts from a rabbit hole where rabbits live to "a hole in one" — the golf term. And, if you're feeling sick or depressed, you can hole up in your room — hiding away from the world, watching TV for hours.
Vocabulary lists containing hole
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A gripping finale at Royal Lytham & St Annes was brimming with drama, magic and misfortune - particularly on the crucial 18th hole.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
"Very happy with how I gave myself the opportunity to win today and how I handled myself. Just got a bit unlucky on the second play-off hole there."
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Business leaders worry such measures will discourage foreign investment and blow an even bigger hole in the country’s public finances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
This gave researchers an unusually clear look at the relationship between matter moving inward toward a black hole and matter being thrown outward into space.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
He had taken the hat, quickly dug a hole, buried the hat and smoothed the snow over it, then gone back to sitting, staring ahead, looking completely innocent.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
While Kuwaki becomes the 43rd different winner in 50 editions of the Women's Open, Noh is the first to have held a three-stroke lead after 54 holes and failed to win the championship.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
This finding indicates that black holes may continue producing strong outflows long after their brightest phase has ended.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead but was down by four strokes with nine holes to play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Watering holes are programming their calendars accordingly, with nostalgia theme nights and parties that end way before midnight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He just sat there on a limb, boring holes through me with his bright little eyes.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Even when Johnson produced a modest wedge shot, as he did on the 11th, he holed the putt from off the green to get to 18 under and place one hand on the inaugural trophy.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
After the deaths of their parents, the aging bluebloods holed up in their stately Harlem rowhouse, once a picture of Gilded Age polish, and became a public curiosity.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
The June cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel came with a few Hezbollah men still holed up in two tunnels outside the city of Nabatiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
It was not costly in terms of runs, because Archer removed Henry before Phillips holed out.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
They holed up for the weekend in a Washington hotel suite, where they were drilled carefully by Lewis Strauss.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The sight of Player holing birdie putts and celebrating by lifting one young fan into his arms, contrasted superbly with nine-year-old Frankie Fleetwood's focus and determination to clear the water and hit the ninth green.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2026
That same night, Israel got a tip from ordinary Iranians that the leader of the feared Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani, was holing up with his deputies in a tent in a wooded area in Tehran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
But after holing up Sunday in his apartment 90 steps from the beach in the historic Zona Romantica, Eure was ready to venture outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
Co-leader after 36 holes, Ko made bogey at the 12th and double bogey at the par-three 13th to stumble back before holing out from a bunker to birdie 14.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
“Ah, but you had the pleasure of holing up in this fine American establishment.”
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
