O.E. holh (n.) "hollow place, hole," from P.Gmc. *holhwo-, related to hol "hole" (see hole). The noun sense of "lowland, valley, basin" is 1553. The verb is from M.E. holowen. The figurative sense of "insincere" is attested from 1529. To carry it hollow "take it completely" is first recorded 1668, of unknown origin or connection.
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity; "a hollow wall"; "a hollow tree"; "hollow cheeks"; "his face became gaunter and more hollow with each year" [ant: solid]
2.
as if echoing in a hollow space; "the hollow sound of footsteps in the empty ballroom"
3.
devoid of significance or point; "empty promises"; "a hollow victory"; "vacuous comments" [syn: empty]
noun
1.
a cavity or space in something; "hunger had caused the hollows in their cheeks"
2.
a small valley between mountains; "he built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Appalachians"
3.
a depression hollowed out of solid matter [syn: hole]
verb
1.
remove the inner part or the core of; "the mining company wants to excavate the hillside" [syn: excavate]
Main Entry: hol·low Pronunciation: 'häl-(")O, -&(-w) Function: noun : a depressed part of a surface or a concavity <the hollow at
the back of the knee>
Hollow Rock, TN (town, FIPS 35280) Location: 36.03518 N, 88.27263 W Population (1990): 902 (397 housing units) Area: 4.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 38342
Hollow Creek, KY (city, FIPS 37576) Location: 38.15150 N, 85.62527 W Population (1990): 991 (339 housing units) Area: 0.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Coeymans Hollow, NY Zip code(s): 12046
Preston Hollow, NY Zip code(s): 12469
Wide Hollow, WA Zip code(s): 98908
Hunters Hollow, KY (city, FIPS 38670) Location: 38.07718 N, 85.69138 W Population (1990): 286 (76 housing units) Area: 0.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Laurel Hollow, NY (village, FIPS 41487) Location: 40.85730 N, 73.47782 W Population (1990): 1748 (567 housing units) Area: 7.6 sq km (land), 0.4 sq km (water)
Sleepy Hollow, IL (village, FIPS 70161) Location: 42.09345 N, 88.31416 W Population (1990): 3241 (1064 housing units) Area: 4.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Sleepy Hollow, WY (CDP, FIPS 71350) Location: 44.24102 N, 105.42156 W Population (1990): 1194 (349 housing units) Area: 12.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Hol"low\, a. [OE. holow, holgh, holf, AS. holh a hollow, hole. Cf. Hole.]1. Having an empty space or cavity, natural or artificial, within a solid substance; not solid; excavated in the interior; as, a hollow tree; a hollow sphere. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it. --Ex. xxvii. 8. 2. Depressed; concave; gaunt; sunken. With hollow eye and wrinkled brow. --Shak. 3. Reverberated from a cavity, or resembling such a sound; deep; muffled; as, a hollow roar. --Dryden. 4. Not sincere or faithful; false; deceitful; not sound; as, a hollow heart; a hollow friend. --Milton. Hollow newel (Arch.), an opening in the center of a winding staircase in place of a newel post, the stairs being supported by the wall; an open newel; also, the stringpiece or rail winding around the well of such a staircase. Hollow quoin (Engin.), a pier of stone or brick made behind the lock gates of a canal, and containing a hollow or recess to receive the ends of the gates. Hollow root. (Bot.) See Moschatel. Hollow square. See Square. Hollow ware, hollow vessels; -- a trade name for cast-iron kitchen utensils, earthenware, etc. Syn: Syn.- Concave; sunken; low; vacant; empty; void; false; faithless; deceitful; treacherous.
Hol"low\, n. 1. A cavity, natural or artificial; an unfilled space within anything; a hole, a cavern; an excavation; as the hollow of the hand or of a tree. 2. A low spot surrounded by elevations; a depressed part of a surface; a concavity; a channel. Forests grew Upon the barren hollows. --Prior. I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood. --Tennyson.
Hol"low\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hollowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Hollowing.] To make hollow, as by digging, cutting, or engraving; to excavate. "Trees rudely hollowed." --Dryden.
Hol"low\, adv. Wholly; completely; utterly; -- chiefly after the verb to beat, and often with all; as, this story beats the other all hollow. See All, adv. [Collog.] The more civilized so-called Caucasian races have beaten the Turks hollow in the struggle for existence. --Darwin.
New"el\, n. [OF. nual, F. noyau sone, of fruit, noyau d'escaler newel, fr. L. nucalis like a nut, fr. nux, nucis, nut. Cf Nowel the inner wall of a mold, Nucleus..] (Arch.) The upright post about which the steps of a circular staircase wind; hence, in stairs having straight flights, the principal post at the foot of a staircase, or the secondary ones at the landings. See Hollow newel, under Hollow.
O"pen\, a. [AS. open; akin to D. open, OS. opan, G. offan, Icel. opinn, Sw. ["o]ppen, Dan. aaben, and perh. to E. up. Cf. Up, and Ope.]1. Free of access; not shut up; not closed; affording unobstructed ingress or egress; not impeding or preventing passage; not locked up or covered over; -- applied to passageways; as, an open door, window, road, etc.; also, to inclosed structures or objects; as, open houses, boxes, baskets, bottles, etc.; also, to means of communication or approach by water or land; as, an open harbor or roadstead. Through the gate, Wide open and unquarded, Satan passed. --Milton Note: Also, figuratively, used of the ways of communication of the mind, as by the senses; ready to hear, see, etc.; as, to keep one's eyes and ears open. His ears are open unto their cry. --Ps. xxxiv. 15. 2. Free to be used, enjoyed, visited, or the like; not private; public; unrestricted in use; as, an open library, museum, court, or other assembly; liable to the approach, trespass, or attack of any one; unprotected; exposed. If Demetrius . . . have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies. --Acts xix. 33. The service that I truly did his life, Hath left me open to all injuries. --Shak. 3. Free or cleared of obstruction to progress or to view; accessible; as, an open tract; the open sea. 4. Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded; as, an open hand; open arms; an open flower; an open prospect. Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight. --Dryden. 5. Hence: (a) Without reserve or false pretense; sincere; characterized by sincerity; unfeigned; frank; also, generous; liberal; bounteous; -- applied to personal appearance, or character, and to the expression of thought and feeling, etc. With aspect open, shall erect his head. --Pope. The Moor is of a free and open nature. --Shak. The French are always open, familiar, and talkative. --Addison. (b) Not concealed or secret; not hidden or disguised; exposed to view or to knowledge; revealed; apparent; as, open schemes or plans; open shame or guilt. His thefts are too open. --Shak. That I may find him, and with secret gaze Or open admiration him behold. --Milton. 6. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing water ways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; -- used of the weather or the climate; as, an open season; an open winter. --Bacon. 7. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration; as, an open account; an open question; to keep an offer or opportunity open. 8. Free; disengaged; unappropriated; as, to keep a day open for any purpose; to be open for an engagement. 9. (Phon.) (a) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; -- said of vowels; as, the ["a]n f["a]r is open as compared with the [=a] in s[=a]y. (b) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure, as in uttering s. 10. (Mus.) (a) Not closed or stopped with the finger; -- said of the string of an instrument, as of a violin, when it is allowed to vibrate throughout its whole length. (b) Produced by an open string; as, an open tone. The open air, the air out of doors. Open chain. (Chem.) See Closed chain, under Chain. Open circuit (Elec.), a conducting circuit which is incomplete, or interrupted at some point; -- opposed to an uninterrupted, or closed circuit. Open communion, communion in the Lord's supper not restricted to persons who have been baptized by immersion. Cf. Close communion, under Close, a. Open diapason (Mus.), a certain stop in an organ, in which the pipes or tubes are formed like the mouthpiece of a flageolet at the end where the wind enters, and are open at the other end. Open flank (Fort.), the part of the flank covered by the orillon. Open-front furnace (Metal.), a blast furnace having a forehearth. Open harmony (Mus.), harmony the tones of which are widely dispersed, or separated by wide intervals. Open hawse (Naut.), a hawse in which the cables are parallel or slightly divergent. Cf. Foul hawse, under Hawse. Open hearth (Metal.), the shallow hearth of a reverberatory furnace. Open-hearth furnace, a reverberatory furnace; esp., a kind of reverberatory furnace in which the fuel is gas, used in manufacturing steel. Open-hearth process (Steel Manuf.), a process by which melted cast iron is converted into steel by the addition of wrought iron, or iron ore and manganese, and by exposure to heat in an open-hearth furnace; -- also called the Siemens-Martin process, from the inventors. Open-hearth steel, steel made by an open-hearth process; -- also called Siemens-Martin steel. Open newel. (Arch.) See Hollow newel, under Hollow. Open pipe (Mus.), a pipe open at the top. It has a pitch about an octave higher than a closed pipe of the same length. Open-timber roof (Arch.), a roof of which the constructional parts, together with the under side of the covering, or its lining, are treated ornamentally, and left to form the ceiling of an apartment below, as in a church, a public hall, and the like. Open vowel or consonant. See Open, a., 9. Note: Open is used in many compounds, most of which are self-explaining; as, open-breasted, open-minded. Syn: Unclosed; uncovered; unprotected; exposed; plain; apparent; obvious; evident; public; unreserved; frank; sincere; undissembling; artless. See Candid, and Ingenuous.
Quoin\, n. [See Coin, and cf. Coigne.]1. (Arch.) Originally, a solid exterior angle, as of a building; now, commonly, one of the selected pieces of material by which the corner is marked. Note: In stone, the quoins consist of blocks larger than those used in the rest of the building, and cut to dimension. In brickwork, quoins consist of groups or masses of brick laid together, and in a certain imitation of quoins of stone. 2. A wedgelike piece of stone, wood metal, or other material, used for various purposes, as: (a) (Masonry) to support and steady a stone. (b) (Gun.) To support the breech of a cannon. (c) (Print.) To wedge or lock up a form within a chase. (d) (Naut.) To prevent casks from rolling. Hollow quoin. See under Hollow. Quoin post (Canals), the post of a lock gate which abuts against the wall.
Sol"id\, a. [L. solidus, probably akin to sollus whole, entire, Gr. ???: cf. F. solide. Cf. Consolidate,Soda, Solder, Soldier, Solemn.]1. Having the constituent parts so compact, or so firmly adhering, as to resist the impression or penetration of other bodies; having a fixed form; hard; firm; compact; -- opposed to fluid and liquid or to plastic, like clay, or to incompact, like sand. 2. Not hollow; full of matter; as, a solid globe or cone, as distinguished from a hollow one; not spongy; dense; hence, sometimes, heavy. 3. (Arith.) Having all the geometrical dimensions; cubic; as, a solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches. Note: In this sense, cubics now generally used. 4. Firm; compact; strong; stable; unyielding; as, a solid pier; a solid pile; a solid wall. 5. Applied to a compound word whose parts are closely united and form an unbroken word; -- opposed to hyphened. 6. Fig.: Worthy of credit, trust, or esteem; substantial, as opposed to frivolous or fallacious; weighty; firm; strong; valid; just; genuine. The solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer. --Milton. These, wanting wit, affect gravity, and go by the name of solid men. --Dryden. The genius of the Italians wrought by solid toil what the myth-making imagination of the Germans had projected in a poem. --J. A. Symonds. 7. Sound; not weakly; as, a solid constitution of body. --I. Watts. 8. (Bot.) Of a fleshy, uniform, undivided substance, as a bulb or root; not spongy or hollow within, as a stem. 9. (Metaph.) Impenetrable; resisting or excluding any other material particle or atom from any given portion of space; -- applied to the supposed ultimate particles of matter. 10. (Print.) Not having the lines separated by leads; not open. 11. United; without division; unanimous; as, the delegation is solid for a candidate. [Polit. Cant. U.S.] Solid angle. (Geom.) See under Angle. Solid color, an even color; one not shaded or variegated. Solid green. See Emerald green (a), under Green. Solid measure (Arith.), a measure for volumes, in which the units are each a cube of fixed linear magnitude, as a cubic foot, yard, or the like; thus, a foot, in solid measure, or a solid foot, contains 1,728 solid inches. Solid newel (Arch.), a newel into which the ends of winding stairs are built, in distinction from a hollow newel. See under Hollow, a. Solid problem (Geom.), a problem which can be construed geometrically, only by the intersection of a circle and a conic section or of two conic sections. --Hutton. Solid square (Mil.), a square body or troops in which the ranks and files are equal. Syn: Hard; firm; compact; strong; substantial; stable; sound; real; valid; true; just; weighty; profound; grave; important. Usage: Solid, Hard. These words both relate to the internal constitution of bodies; but hardnotes a more impenetrable nature or a firmer adherence of the component parts than solid. Hard is opposed to soft, and solid to fluid, liquid, open, or hollow. Wood is usually solid; but some kinds of wood are hard, and others are soft. Repose you there; while I [return] to this hard house, More harder than the stones whereof 't is raised. --Shak. I hear his thundering voice resound, And trampling feet than shake the solid ground. --Dryden.
Sol"id\, a. [L. solidus, probably akin to sollus whole, entire, Gr. ???: cf. F. solide. Cf. Consolidate,Soda, Solder, Soldier, Solemn.]1. Having the constituent parts so compact, or so firmly adhering, as to resist the impression or penetration of other bodies; having a fixed form; hard; firm; compact; -- opposed to fluid and liquid or to plastic, like clay, or to incompact, like sand. 2. Not hollow; full of matter; as, a solid globe or cone, as distinguished from a hollow one; not spongy; dense; hence, sometimes, heavy. 3. (Arith.) Having all the geometrical dimensions; cubic; as, a solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches. Note: In this sense, cubics now generally used. 4. Firm; compact; strong; stable; unyielding; as, a solid pier; a solid pile; a solid wall. 5. Applied to a compound word whose parts are closely united and form an unbroken word; -- opposed to hyphened. 6. Fig.: Worthy of credit, trust, or esteem; substantial, as opposed to frivolous or fallacious; weighty; firm; strong; valid; just; genuine. The solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer. --Milton. These, wanting wit, affect gravity, and go by the name of solid men. --Dryden. The genius of the Italians wrought by solid toil what the myth-making imagination of the Germans had projected in a poem. --J. A. Symonds. 7. Sound; not weakly; as, a solid constitution of body. --I. Watts. 8. (Bot.) Of a fleshy, uniform, undivided substance, as a bulb or root; not spongy or hollow within, as a stem. 9. (Metaph.) Impenetrable; resisting or excluding any other material particle or atom from any given portion of space; -- applied to the supposed ultimate particles of matter. 10. (Print.) Not having the lines separated by leads; not open. 11. United; without division; unanimous; as, the delegation is solid for a candidate. [Polit. Cant. U.S.] Solid angle. (Geom.) See under Angle. Solid color, an even color; one not shaded or variegated. Solid green. See Emerald green (a), under Green. Solid measure (Arith.), a measure for volumes, in which the units are each a cube of fixed linear magnitude, as a cubic foot, yard, or the like; thus, a foot, in solid measure, or a solid foot, contains 1,728 solid inches. Solid newel (Arch.), a newel into which the ends of winding stairs are built, in distinction from a hollow newel. See under Hollow, a. Solid problem (Geom.), a problem which can be construed geometrically, only by the intersection of a circle and a conic section or of two conic sections. --Hutton. Solid square (Mil.), a square body or troops in which the ranks and files are equal. Syn: Hard; firm; compact; strong; substantial; stable; sound; real; valid; true; just; weighty; profound; grave; important. Usage: Solid, Hard. These words both relate to the internal constitution of bodies; but hardnotes a more impenetrable nature or a firmer adherence of the component parts than solid. Hard is opposed to soft, and solid to fluid, liquid, open, or hollow. Wood is usually solid; but some kinds of wood are hard, and others are soft. Repose you there; while I [return] to this hard house, More harder than the stones whereof 't is raised. --Shak. I hear his thundering voice resound, And trampling feet than shake the solid ground. --Dryden.
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Audio Help [hol-oh] Pronunciation Key adjective, -er, -est, noun, verb, adverb 
