pothole

[pot-hohl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pothole ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a deep hole; pit.

a hole formed in pavement, as by excessive use or by extremes of weather.

a more or less cylindrical hole formed in rock by the grinding action of the detrital material in eddying water.

a cave opening vertically from the ground surface.

Origin of pothole

First recorded in 1820–30; pot¹ + hole

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pothole

crater, rut, cavity, dip, gap, pocket, split, fracture, hole, pit, depression

Examples from the Web for pothole

Contemporary Examples of pothole

Keep in mind, the U.S. can barely keep its government open, fix a pothole, or move a train 45 miles in an hour in this country.
Tesla Looks Like a Bubble, Will It Pop?
Daniel Gross
March 1, 2014
A gentleman named Lee Daly from Dublin, Ireland asked Booker for help with a pothole in front of his house.
When Politicians Tweet One-Liners
Ben Jacobs
February 4, 2014
March 17, 2005 – 7:21 p.m. Type: 911 Subject: Maintenance Report: Pothole “that is blocking the road” 4.
George Zimmerman’s History of 911 Calls: A Complete Log
Matthew DeLuca
March 22, 2012
When Baker took office, it took 2½ years to fill a pothole in St. Petersburg.
America's Greatest Mayor?
John Avlon
May 10, 2011

Historical Examples of pothole

The carriage slumped into a pothole, and a spring seemed to snap.
When the Owl Cries
Paul Bartlett
They were moving around the base of a small knoll when Larkwell's foot struck a pothole in the ash and he stumbled.
First on the Moon
Jeff Sutton

British Dictionary definitions for pothole

pothole

noun

geography

a deep hole in limestone areas resulting from action by running waterSee also sinkhole (def. 1)
a circular hole in the bed of a river produced by abrasion

a deep hole, esp one produced in a road surface by wear or weathering

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

Word Origin and History for pothole

also pot-hole, 1826, originally a geological feature in glaciers and gravel beds, from Middle English pot "a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging" (late 14c.), now generally obsolete, but preserved in Scotland and northern England dialect; perhaps ultimately related to pot (n.1) on notion of "deep, cylindrical shape." Applied to a hole in a road from 1909.