Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Hole

Hole

(hōl)
,
Adj.
Whole.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.

Hole

(hōl)
,
Noun.
[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.
hål
, 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.
Shakespeare
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.
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
.

Hole

,
Verb.
T.
[AS.
holian
. See
Hole
,
Noun.
]
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.

Hole

,
Verb.
I.
To go or get into a hole.
B. Jonson.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hole

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, &c. Is.11. Ezek.8.
Nah.2. Matt.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

,
Verb.
I.
To go into a hole.

HOLE

,
Verb.
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.

Definition 2024


Hole

Hole

See also: hole

Norwegian

Proper noun

Hole

  1. A municipality in Buskerud, Norway

hole

hole

See also: Hole

English

Noun

hole (plural holes)

  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.
    There’s a hole in my shoe. Her stocking has a hole in it.
    • Bible, 2 Kings xii.9:
      The priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid.
    • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
      the holes where eyes should be
    • Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
      The blind walls were full of chinks and holes.
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapterII:
      Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
    1. An opening in a solid.
      There’s a hole in my bucket.
  2. (heading) In games.
    1. (golf) A subsurface standard-size hole, also called cup, hitting the ball into which is the object of play. Each hole, of which there are usually eighteen as the standard on a full course, is located on a prepared surface, called the green, of a particular type grass.
    2. (golf) The part of a game in which a player attempts to hit the ball into one of the holes.
      I played 18 holes yesterday. The second hole today cost me three strokes over par.
    3. (baseball) The rear portion of the defensive team between the shortstop and the third baseman.
      The shortstop ranged deep into the hole to make the stop.
    4. (chess) A square on the board, with some positional significance, that a player does not, and cannot in future, control with a friendly pawn.
    5. (stud poker) A card (also called a hole card) dealt face down thus unknown to all but its holder; the status in which such a card is.
    6. In the game of fives, part of the floor of the court between the step and the pepperbox.
  3. (archaeology, slang) An excavation pit or trench.
  4. (figuratively) A weakness, a flaw
    I have found a hole in your argument.
    • 2011, Fun - We Are Young
      But between the drinks and subtle things / The holes in my apologies, you know / I’m trying hard to take it back
  5. (informal) A container or receptacle.
    car hole; brain hole
  6. (physics) In semiconductors, a lack of an electron in an occupied band behaving like a positively charged particle.
  7. (computing) A security vulnerability in software which can be taken advantage of by an exploit.
  8. (slang anatomy) An orifice, in particular the anus.
  9. (Ireland, idiomatic) sex, or a sex partner (particularly in the phrase, "get one's hole"))
    Are you going out to get your hole tonight?
  10. (informal, with "the") Solitary confinement, a high-security prison cell often used as punishment.
  11. (slang) An undesirable place to live or visit; a hovel.
    His apartment is a hole!
  12. (figuratively) Difficulty, in particular, debt.
    If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
  13. (graph theory) A chordless cycle in a graph.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:hole
  • (solitary confinement): administrative segregation, AdSeg, block (UK), cooler (UK), hotbox, lockdown, pound, SCU, security housing unit, SHU, special handling unit

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

hole (third-person singular simple present holes, present participle holing, simple past and past participle holed)

  1. (transitive) To make holes in (an object or surface).
    Shrapnel holed the ship's hull.
  2. (transitive, by extension) To destroy.
    She completely holed the argument.
  3. To go or get into a hole.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)
  4. (transitive) To cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes in.
    to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars
  5. (transitive) To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball or golf ball.
    Woods holed a standard three foot putt
  6. simple past tense of hele

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhoːlə/

Verb

hole

  1. First-person singular present of holen.
  2. First-person singular subjunctive I of holen.
  3. Third-person singular subjunctive I of holen.
  4. Imperative singular of holen.

Hausa

Verb

hōlḕ (grade 4)

  1. to relax, to enjoy oneself