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priest-hole

British  

noun

  1. a secret chamber in certain houses in England, built as a hiding place for Roman Catholic priests when they were proscribed in the 16th and 17th centuries

"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

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.

Some priest who had used this priest-hole years before had left it there in his hurry; I wondered how.

From Martin Hyde, the Duke's Messenger by Masefield, John

To such vandals we can only emphasise the remarks we have already made about the market value of a "priest-hole" nowadays.

From Secret Chambers and Hiding Places Historic, Romantic, & Legendary Stories & Traditions About Hiding-Holes, Secret Chambers, Etc. by Fea, Allan

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.