Adjacent Words

Hole definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HOLE, n.
1. A hollow place or cavity in any solid body, of any shape or dimensions, natural or artificial. It may differ from a rent or fissure in being wider. A cell; a den; a cave or cavern in the earth; an excavation in a rock or tree; a pit, etc. Isaiah 11. Ezek 8.
Nahum 2. Matthew 8.
2. A perforation; an aperture; an opening in or through a solid body, left in the work or made by an instrument.
Jehoida took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it. 2 Kings 12.
3. A mean habitation; a narrow or dark lodging.
4. An opening or means of escape; a subterfuge; in the vulgar phrase, he has a hole to creep out at.
Arm-hole, the arm-pit; the cavity under the shoulder of a person.
1. An opening in a garment for the arm.
HOLE, v.i. To go into a hole.
HOLE, v.t. To cut, dig or make a hole or holes in; as, to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars.
1. To drive into a bag, as in billiards.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an opening into or through something
2: an opening deliberately made in or through something
3: one playing period (from tee to green) on a golf course; "he played 18 holes" [syn: hole, golf hole]
4: an unoccupied space
5: a depression hollowed out of solid matter [syn: hole, hollow]
6: a fault; "he shot holes in my argument"
7: informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" [syn: fix, hole, jam, mess, muddle, pickle, kettle of fish]
8: informal terms for the mouth [syn: trap, cakehole, hole, maw, yap, gob] v
1: hit the ball into the hole [syn: hole, hole out]
2: make holes in

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hol (from neuter of hol, adjective, hollow) & holh; akin to Old High German hol, adjective, hollow and perhaps to Old English helan to conceal — more at hell Date: before 12th century 1. a. an opening through something ; perforation <have a hole in my coat> b. an area where something is missing ; gap: as (1) a serious discrepancy ; flaw, weakness <some holes in your logic> (2) an opening in a defensive formation; especially the area of a baseball field between the positions of shortstop and third baseman (3) a defect in a crystal (as of a semiconductor) that is due to an electron's having left its normal position in one of the crystal bonds and that is equivalent in many respects to a positively charged particle 2. a hollowed-out place: as a. a cave, pit, or well in the ground b. burrow c. an unusually deep place in a body of water (as a river) 3. a. a wretched or dreary place b. a prison cell especially for solitary confinement 4. a. a shallow cylindrical hole in the putting green of a golf course into which the ball is played b. a part of the golf course from tee to putting green <just beginning play on the third hole>; also the play on such a hole as a unit of scoring <won the hole by two strokes> 5. a. an awkward position or circumstance ; fix <got the rebels out of a hole at the battle — Kenneth Roberts> b. a position of owing or losing money <$10 million in the hole> <raising money to get out of the hole> II. verb (holed; holing) Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to make a hole in 2. to drive or hit into a hole <hole a putt> intransitive verb to make a hole in something

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a an empty space in a solid body. b an aperture in or through something. 2 an animal's burrow. 3 a cavity or receptacle for a ball in various sports or games. 4 colloq. a small, mean, or dingy abode. 5 colloq. an awkward situation. 6 Golf a a point scored by a player who gets the ball from tee to hole with the fewest strokes. b the terrain or distance from tee to hole. 7 a position from which an electron is absent, esp. acting as a mobile positive particle in a semiconductor. --v.tr. 1 make a hole or holes in. 2 pierce the side of (a ship). 3 put into a hole. 4 (also absol.; often foll. by out) send (a golf ball) into a hole. Phrases and idioms: hole-and-corner secret; underhand. hole in the heart a congenital defect in the heart septum. hole in one Golf a shot that enters the hole from the tee. hole in the wall a small dingy place (esp. of business). hole-proof (of materials etc.) treated so as to be resistant to wear. hole up US colloq. hide oneself. in holes worn so much that holes have formed. make a hole in use a large amount of. a round (or square) peg in a square (or round) hole see PEG. Derivatives: holey adj. Etymology: OE hol, holian (as HOLD(2))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hold Hold, v. t. To hold up. To stop in order to rob, often with the demand to hold up the hands. [Colloq.] Hole Hole, n. (Games) (a) A small cavity used in some games, usually one into which a marble or ball is to be played or driven; hence, a score made by playing a marble or ball into such a hole, as in golf. (b) (Fives) At Eton College, England, that part of the floor of the court between the step and the pepperbox.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hole Hole, n. [OE. hol, hole, AS. hol, hole, cavern, from hol, a., hollow; akin to D. hol, OHG. hol, G. hohl, Dan. huul hollow, hul hole, Sw. h[*a]l, Icel. hola; prob. from the root of AS. helan to conceal. See Hele, Hell, and cf. Hold of a ship.] 1. A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; an opening in or through a solid body, a fabric, etc.; a perforation; a rent; a fissure. The holes where eyes should be. --Shak. The blind walls Were full of chinks and holes. --Tennyson. The priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid. --2 Kings xii. 9. 2. An excavation in the ground, made by an animal to live in, or a natural cavity inhabited by an animal; hence, a low, narrow, or dark lodging or place; a mean habitation. --Dryden. The foxes have holes, . . . but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. --Luke ix. 58. Syn: Hollow; concavity; aperture; rent; fissure; crevice; orifice; interstice; perforation; excavation; pit; cave; den; cell. Hole and corner, clandestine, underhand. [Colloq.] ``The wretched trickery of hole and corner buffery.'' --Dickens. Hole board (Fancy Weaving), a board having holes through which cords pass which lift certain warp threads; -- called also compass board.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hole Hole (h[=o]l), a. Whole. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hole Hole, v. t. [AS. holian. See Hole, n.] 1. To cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes in; as, to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars. --Chapman. 2. To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hole Hole, v. i. To go or get into a hole. --B. Jonson.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(holes, holing, holed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A hole is a hollow space in something solid, with an opening on one side. He took a shovel, dug a hole, and buried his once-prized possessions... ...a 60ft hole. N-COUNT 2. A hole is an opening in something that goes right through it. These tiresome creatures eat holes in the leaves... ...kids with holes in the knees of their jeans. N-COUNT: oft N in n 3. A hole is the home or hiding place of a mouse, rabbit, or other small animal. ...a rabbit hole. N-COUNT 4. A hole in a law, theory, or argument is a fault or weakness that it has. There were some holes in that theory, some unanswered questions. N-COUNT: oft N in n 5. A hole is also one of the nine or eighteen sections of a golf course. I played nine holes with Gary Player today. N-COUNT 6. A hole is one of the places on a golf course that the ball must drop into, usually marked by a flag. N-COUNT 7. If you say that you need something or someone like a hole in the head, you are emphasizing that you do not want them and that they would only add to the problems that you already have. (INFORMAL) We need more folk heroes like we need a hole in the head. PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis] 8. If you say that you are in a hole, you mean that you are in a difficult or embarrassing situation. (INFORMAL) He admitted that the government was in 'a dreadful hole'. PHRASE: v-link PHR 9. If you get a hole in one in golf, you get the golf ball into the hole with a single stroke. PHRASE: usu v PHR 10. If you pick holes in an argument or theory, you find weak points in it so that it is no longer valid. (INFORMAL) He then goes on to pick holes in the article before reaching his conclusion. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Perforation, aperture, opening. 2. Cavity, cave, cavern, hollow, concavity, excavation, pit. 3. Lair, den, cover, retreat (of an animal). 4. Hovel, kennel, den, mean habitation.

Moby Thesaurus

Augean stables, Babylon, CAT, Gomorrah, Sodom, abode, abri, abysm, abyss, aerospace, aerosphere, air hole, air pocket, airspace, alveolation, alveolus, antre, antrum, aperture, area, armpit, arroyo, asylum, auger, basement, basin, bearings, bench mark, bind, bite, blemish, blind alley, bolt-hole, booth, bordello, bore, bowl, box, box canyon, breach, break, brig, broach, broaching, brothel, bug, bump, bunker, burrow, cache, cage, canyon, catch, catch-22, cathouse, cave, cavern, cavity, ceiling, cell, cellar, cellarage, cellule, chamber, chap, chasm, check, chimney, chink, clearing, cleft, cleuch, clip joint, clough, coal bin, col, compartment, concave, concavity, concealment, corner, couch, coulee, couloir, countersink, cove, cover, covert, coverture, crack, cranny, crater, crevasse, crevice, crib, crosswind, crypt, cubby, cubbyhole, cul-de-sac, cup, cut, cwm, cyclone cellar, dark corner, dead end, dead-end street, deadlock, deep, defect, defection, deficiency, defile, dell, den, den of iniquity, den of thieves, dent, depression, depth, difficulty, dike, dilemma, dip, disclosure, discontinuity, discrepancy, disrupt, district, ditch, dive, doghouse, donga, donjon, draw, drawback, drill, dugout, dump, dungeon, earth, empierce, emplacement, empty space, enclosed space, error, excavation, extremity, failing, failure, fallacy, fault, faute, favorable wind, fenestra, fissure, fistula, fix, flaw, fleshpots, flume, fog, foible, fold, follicle, fontanel, foramen, form, foxhole, fracture, frailty, front, funk hole, funnel chest, furrow, gap, gape, gash, gat, goal, gore, gorge, gouge, gouge out, grand slam, groove, grot, grotto, gulch, gulf, gully, gyp joint, halt, head wind, hellhole, hiatus, hideaway, hideout, hidey hole, hiding, hiding place, high-pressure area, hit, hold, hole in one, hollow, hollow shell, home run, homer, honeycomb, hot water, hovel, hut, impale, impasse, imperfection, impression, inadequacy, incision, inconsistency, indentation, infirmity, inlet, interstice, interval, ionosphere, jail, jetstream, joint, keep, kink, kloof, lacuna, lair, lance, latitude and longitude, laying open, leak, lieu, little problem, locale, locality, location, locus, lodge, loophole, low-pressure area, manger, mess, mew, mistake, moat, muddle, needle, niche, nook, notch, nullah, open, opening, opening up, orifice, oubliette, outlet, overcast, pass, passage, passageway, penetrate, perforate, perforation, pesthole, pew, pickle, pierce, pigeonhole, pigpen, pigsty, pinch, pink, pinpoint, pit, place, placement, plague spot, playhouse, plight, pocket, point, pore, position, potato cellar, predicament, prick, prison, problem, punch, punch bowl, puncture, ravine, ream, ream out, recess, refuge, region, rent, retreat, riddle, rift, rime, rip, rookery, roughness, run, run through, rupture, sanctuary, scissure, scoop, score, scrape, seam, secret place, sewer, shack, shaft, shanty, shell, shortcoming, sink, sink of corruption, sinus, site, situation, situs, skewer, slam, slit, slot, slum, snag, socket, something missing, soup, space, spear, spike, spit, split, sporting house, spot, stab, stable, stalemate, stall, stand, standstill, stash, stead, stews, stick, stoma, stop, storm cellar, stratosphere, strike, sty, subbasement, substratosphere, subterrane, subway, tail wind, taint, tap, tear, tenement, the slums, throwing open, tight spot, tight squeeze, touchdown, transfix, transpierce, trench, trepan, trephine, tropopause, troposphere, trouble, trough, tumbledown shack, tunnel, turbulence, uncorking, undercovert, unstopping, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum, valley, vault, vent, visibility, visibility zero, void, vug, vulnerable place, wadi, warren, weak link, weak point, weakness, well, whereabout, whereabouts, whorehouse, wine cellar, yawn, yawning abyss