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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.

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

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

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.