Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

Holes

 - 4 dictionary results

hole

  [hohl] noun, verb, holed, hol⋅ing.
Use Holes in a Sentence
–noun
1. an opening through something; gap; aperture: a hole in the roof; a hole in my sock.
2. a hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity: a hole in the ground.
3. the excavated habitation of an animal; burrow.
4. a small, dingy, or shabby place: I couldn't live in a hole like that.
5. a place of solitary confinement; dungeon.
6. an embarrassing position or predicament: to find oneself in a hole.
7. a cove or small harbor.
8. a fault or flaw: They found serious holes in his reasoning.
9. a deep, still place in a stream: a swimming hole.
10. Sports.
a. a small cavity, into which a marble, ball, or the like is to be played.
b. a score made by so playing.
11. Golf.
a. the circular opening in a green into which the ball is to be played.
b. a part of a golf course from a tee to the hole corresponding to it, including fairway, rough, and hazards.
c. the number of strokes taken to hit the ball from a tee into the hole corresponding to it.
12. Informal. opening; slot: The radio program was scheduled for the p.m. hole. We need an experienced person to fill a hole in our accounting department.
13. Metalworking. (in wire drawing) one reduction of a section.
14. Electronics. a mobile vacancy in the electronic structure of a semiconductor that acts as a positive charge carrier and has equivalent mass.
15. Aeronautics. an air pocket that causes a plane or other aircraft to drop suddenly.
–verb (used with object)
16. to make a hole or holes in.
17. to put or drive into a hole.
18. Golf. to hit the ball into (a hole).
19. to bore (a tunnel, passage, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
20. to make a hole or holes.
—Verb phrases
21. hole out, Golf. to strike the ball into a hole: He holed out in five, one over par.
22. hole up,
a. to go into a hole; retire for the winter, as a hibernating animal.
b. to hide, as from pursuers, the police, etc.: The police think the bank robbers are holed up in Chicago.
—Idioms
23. burn a hole in one's pocket, to urge one to spend money quickly: His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.
24. hole in the wall, a small or confining place, esp. one that is dingy, shabby, or out-of-the-way: Their first shop was a real hole in the wall.
25. in a or the hole,
a. in debt; in straitened circumstances: After Christmas I am always in the hole for at least a month.
b. Baseball, Softball. pitching or batting with the count of balls or balls and strikes to one's disadvantage, esp. batting with a count of two strikes and one ball or none.
c. Stud Poker. being the card or one of the cards dealt face down in the first round: a king in the hole.
26. make a hole in, to take a large part of: A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.
27. pick a hole or holes in, to find a fault or flaw in: As soon as I presented my argument, he began to pick holes in it.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE hol hole, cave, orig. neut. of hol (adj.) hollow; c. G hohl hollow

Related forms:
holeless, adjective
holey, adjective

Synonyms:
1, 2. pit, hollow, concavity. Hole, cavity, excavation refer to a hollow place in anything. Hole is the common word for this idea: a hole in turf. Cavity is a more formal or scientific term for a hollow within the body or in a substance, whether with or without a passage outward: a cavity in a tooth; the cranial cavity. An excavation is an extended hole made by digging out or removing material: an excavation before the construction of a building. 3. den, cave; lair, retreat. 4. hovel, shack.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Holes
hole   (hōl)   
n.  

  1. A hollowed place in something solid; a cavity or pit: dug a hole in the ground with a shovel.

    1. An opening or perforation: a hole in the clouds; had a hole in the elbow of my sweater.

    2. Sports An opening in a defensive formation, such as the area of a baseball infield between two adjacent fielders.

    3. A fault or flaw: There are holes in your argument.

    4. The small pit lined with a cup into which a golf ball must be hit.

    5. One of the divisions of a golf course, from tee to cup.

  3. A deep place in a body of water.

  4. An animal's hollowed-out habitation, such as a burrow.

  5. An ugly, squalid, or depressing dwelling.

  6. A deep or isolated place of confinement; a dungeon.

  7. An awkward situation; a predicament.

  8. Sports

    1. The small pit lined with a cup into which a golf ball must be hit.

    2. One of the divisions of a golf course, from tee to cup.

  9. Physics A vacant position in a crystal left by the absence of an electron, especially a position in a semiconductor that acts as a carrier of positive electric charge. Also called electron hole.

v.   holed, hol·ing, holes

v.   tr.

  1. To put a hole in.

  2. To put or propel into a hole.

v.   intr.
To make a hole in something.
Phrasal Verbs:
hole out Sports
To hit a golf ball into the hole.
hole up

  1. To hibernate in or as if in a hole.

  2. Informal To take refuge in or as if in a hideout.

Phrasal Verb(s):
hole out Sports To hit a golf ball into the hole.
hole up

  1. To hibernate in or as if in a hole.

  2. Informal To take refuge in or as if in a hideout.


Idiom(s):
in the hole

  1. Having a score below zero.

  2. In debt.

  3. At a disadvantage.


[Middle English, from Old English hol; see kel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
hole

  1. n.
    a despised person; an asshole. (Usually objectionable. Also a term of address.) : Sam is such a hole. He needs human being lessons.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

hole 
O.E. hol "orifice, hollow place," from P.Gmc. *khulaz (cf. O.Fris., O.H.G. hol, M.Du. hool, O.N. holr, Ger. hohl "hollow," Goth. us-hulon "to hollow out"), from PIE base *kel- (see cell). As a contemptuous word for "small dingy lodging or abode" it is attested from 1616. Meaning "a fix, scrape, mess" is from 1760. Obscene slang use for "vulva" is implied from 1340. Hole in the wall "small and unpretentious place" is from 1822; to hole up first recorded 1875. To need (something) like a hole in the head, applied to something useless, first recorded 1951, ptobably a transl. of a Yiddish expression, cf. ich darf es vi a loch in kop.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see Holes on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way