noun, verb, holed, hol⋅ing.| 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.
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| 11. | Golf.
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| 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. |
| 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.). |
| 20. | to make a hole or holes. |
| 21. | hole out, Golf. to strike the ball into a hole: He holed out in five, one over par. |
| 22. | hole up,
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| 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,
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| 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. |
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| hole (hōl) Pronunciation Key
A gap, usually the valence band of an insulator or semiconductor, that would normally be filled with one electron. If an electron accelerated by a voltage moves into a gap, it leaves a gap behind it, and in this way the hole itself appears to move through the substance. Even though holes are in fact the absence of a negatively charged particle (an electron), they can be treated theoretically as positively charged particles, whose motion gives rise to electric current. |
in the hole
In debt; in trouble, especially financial trouble. For example, Joan is too extravagant; she's always in the hole, or Buying all these Christmas presents will put us in the hole for the next few months. [Colloquial; early 1800s] Also see in a bind.
In trouble in a competitive sport. For example, At three balls and no strikes, the pitcher's in the hole, or The batter's got two strikes on him; he's in the hole. [Slang; late 1800s]
In a card game, scoring lower than zero. For example, Only one hand's been dealt and I'm already three points in the hole. This expression alludes to the practice of circling a minus score in the old game of euchre. The antonym for all three usages is out of the hole, as in It took careful financial management to get Kevin out of the hole, or An experienced pitcher often can manage to get out of the hole. Also see ace in the hole.