in the hole

1. In debt; in trouble, especially financial trouble. For example, Joan is too extravagant; she's always in the hole , or Buying all these Christmas presents will put us in the hole for the next few months . [ Colloquial ; early 1800s] Also see in a bind .

2. In trouble in a competitive sport. For example, At three balls and no strikes, the pitcher's in the hole , or The batter's got two strikes on him; he's in the hole . [ Slang ; late 1800s]

3. In a card game, scoring lower than zero. For example, Only one hand's been dealt and I'm already three points in the hole . This expression alludes to the practice of circling a minus score in the old game of euchre. The antonym for all three usages is out of the hole , as in It took careful financial management to get Kevin out of the hole , or An experienced pitcher often can manage to get out of the hole . Also see ace in the hole .

Example Sentences

Koerner robbed his retirement fund to front the start of construction and said that once insurance payments are added up, he’ll be a few hundred thousand dollars in the hole.

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But as soon as we created a hole that went underneath the obelisk, a long granite block was put in the hole to support it.

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It didn’t take long for them to fill in the hole.

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That includes the brilliant ones, like the ninth-inning play Thursday in which he ranged in the hole to backhand Andrew Vaughn’s grounder, then rose up and delivered a strong one-hop jump throw across his body to first baseman Freddie Freeman to get Vaughn easily.

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The suspect lost his cover when arriving deputies found him in the hole and took him into custody, NBC4 reported.

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Related Words

• arrears 
• bill 
• capital 
• commitment 
• credit 
• damage 
• deficit 
• due 
• indebtedness 
• liability 
• mortgage 
• obligation 
• price tag 
• receipt