sinkhole

American  

[singk-hohl] / ˈsɪŋkˌhoʊl /

noun

1. a hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage.

2. Also called sink.  a depressed area in which waste or drainage collects.

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sinkhole British  

/ ˈsɪŋkˌhəʊl /

noun

1. Also called (esp Brit): swallow hole.  a depression in the ground surface, esp in limestone, where a surface stream disappears underground

2. a place into which foul matter runs

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sinkhole Scientific  

/ sĭngk′hōl′ /

1. A natural depression in a land surface formed by the dissolution and collapse of a cavern roof. Sinkholes are roughly funnel-shaped and on the order of tens of meters in size. They generally occur in limestone regions and are connected to subteranean passages.

2. Also called sink

3. See more at karst topography

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Etymology

Origin of sinkhole

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; sink, hole

Example Sentences

They were also astonished to discover a massive, vertical sinkhole called a blue hole, 75km south of a bank called Grand Turk, that formed when a cave collapsed inwards.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

Meanwhile, a woman had to be rescued when her car fell into a sinkhole that emerged on a road near the western town of Cáceres.

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026

Bundy and the mayor led a driving tour of the shattered coastline, stopping at one property where the destruction of a home revealed a sea wall below with a pre-existing sinkhole.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026

An abandoned mine doesn’t automatically lead to a sinkhole, of course; Veni notes that the risk “depends on the mine and the geologic conditions of the area.”

From Slate • Oct. 17, 2025

There’s probably a religious motif, though in the foreground something more immediate: money, the release of others jailed in some sinkhole for doing more or less the same thing these men are doing.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood