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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hole in a sentence

In August, one of the cables that holds up the dome slipped out of a socket and punched a hole in the dish.
Arecibo Observatory, an ‘icon of Puerto Rican science,’ will be demolished|Lisa Grossman|November 19, 2020|Science News
He said Lions quarterback Matt Stafford had found “the honey hole” in Washington’s defense.
Inside Aqib Talib’s ‘raw’ but ‘real’ NFL announcing debut|Les Carpenter|November 19, 2020|Washington Post
Its decommission will create a hole in radio astronomy, but many other instruments should be able to pick up where Arecibo left off.
The second-largest radio telescope in the world is shutting down|Neel Patel|November 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The Warriors have a hole at center and a desire to reenter the West’s contender class.
On quiet night for NBA draft lottery selections, Anthony Edwards goes No. 1 to Timberwolves|Ben Golliver, Des Bieler|November 19, 2020|Washington Post

It pokes some significant holes in the fundamental assumptions we’ve been making.
The way we train AI is fundamentally flawed|Will Heaven|November 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Western-backed FSA brigades in northern Syria are now holed up in three pockets: in Aleppo, and to the west and north of the city.
ISIS and Al Qaeda Ready to Gang Up on Obama's Rebels|Jamie Dettmer|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The entire remaining Iraqi Army force remained holed up at FOB Speicher, north of Tikrit.
The Paper Tiger of the Tigris: How ISIS Took Tikrit Without a Fight|Andrew Slater|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dad holed up on his own in Weehawken, across the Hudson, after his next girlfriend gave him the boot as well.
Almost Famous: A Father's Day Story|Alex Belth|June 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Brooks: We holed up in the Bel Air Hotel, where Gene was staying, and we acted all the parts out.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview|Alex Belth|February 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The first signs of a return from the dark side come when the Governor encounters a family holed up in their apartment.
Will the Governor and Carol Join Forces? The Walking Dead’s David Morrissey Says It’s a Good Theory|Melissa Leon|November 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A, who was in well-deserved trouble all the way, holed out in ten.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, February 18, 1914|Various
I am jostled by polking damsels and button-holed by most approved bores.
Four Years in Rebel Capitals|T. C. DeLeon
When I holed out an eighteen-footer at the seventh, he was so mad, he wouldn't speak to me all the rest of the afternoon.
The Onslaught from Rigel|Fletcher Pratt
Unfortunately all her boats had been holed by the Nrnberg's fire, and, before she could launch them, they had to be repaired.
The Heroic Record of the British Navy|Archibald Hurd
It is flanked with loop-holed towers, and encircled externally by a muddy moat, crossed by six causeways leading to as many gates.
The Desert World|Arthur Mangin

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 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