hole
(hōl)
[Middle English, from Old English hol.]
noun
- A hollowed place in something solid; a cavity or pit: dug a hole in the ground with a shovel.
- An opening or perforation: a hole in the clouds; had a hole in the elbow of my sweater.
- Sports An opening in a defensive formation, such as the area of a baseball infield between two adjacent fielders.
- A fault or flaw: There are holes in your argument.
- A deep place in a body of water.
- An animal's hollowed-out habitation, such as a burrow.
- An ugly, squalid, or depressing dwelling.
- A deep or isolated place of confinement; a dungeon.
- An awkward situation; a predicament.
- Sports
- The small pit lined with a cup into which a golf ball must be hit.
- One of the divisions of a golf course, from tee to cup.
- 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
verb: holed, hol·ing, holes.
transitive verb
- To put a hole in.
- To put or propel into a hole.
intransitive verb
- To make a hole in something.
phrasal verbs
- hole out
- To hit a golf ball into the hole.
- hole up
- To hibernate in or as if in a hole.
- Informal To take refuge in or as if in a hideout.
idioms
- in the hole
- Having a score below zero. In debt. At a disadvantage.
