pothole
Americannoun
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geography
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a deep hole in limestone areas resulting from action by running water See also sinkhole
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a circular hole in the bed of a river produced by abrasion
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a deep hole, esp one produced in a road surface by wear or weathering
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pothole
Explanation
A pothole is a hole or little pit in a road. Drivers complain about potholes frequently. If you've ever felt a little bump while in a car, you probably hit a pothole: a little hole in the street caused by wear and tear. Newly paved roads are smooth and have no potholes, but potholes develop over time. Drivers hate potholes because the little bump is startling, and a big pothole could actually damage a car. Eventually, potholes are usually filled in when a road gets paved. Potholes are also called chuckholes.
Vocabulary lists containing pothole
Look Both Ways
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As Brave as You
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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:
Cities and counties are scrambling to prepare for a potential overhaul of how they pay for all sorts of services, from policing to pothole repairs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
And then there’s the biggest pothole of all on the road to pastoral wonder:
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
Within nine months, the patch repair had stretch marks, splits in the surface and, to its left edge, a new pothole had opened up.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Although not all pothole claims are paid out, Marie McCallum, a mobile hairdresser from Macduff, told BBC Scotland she successfully claimed compensation from Aberdeenshire Council when her car hit a pothole in 2024.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
Suddenly, with a bang, we hit a huge pothole and the back doors on the U-Haul flew open.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
When AFP visited, municipal workers were fixing a road that residents said had been riddled with potholes for years.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
He railed against the city’s challenges with public safety, potholes, and the abuse of dogs on Skid Row.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
King said potholes were the issue most often raised with him as a county councillor, with new ones being flagged to him daily.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
More-experienced visitors feared the 280-mile road to Kyiv would be plagued by potholes, given the war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
And although no one speaks of it, I know it’s not potholes my uncle’s worried about.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
