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Definition of hole noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

hole

noun
 
 
/həʊl/
 
/həʊl/
Idioms
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    hollow space

  1.  
     [countable] a hollow space in something solid or in the surface of something
    • He dug a deep hole in the garden.
    • hole in something The bomb blew a huge hole in the ground.
    • Water had collected in the holes in the road.
    • She drilled a small hole in the wall.
    see also f-hole, sinkhole, swallow hole
    Extra Examples
    • I uprooted the tree and filled the hole with earth.
    • The snake disappeared down a hole.
    • There was water in the hole.
    • We dug a deep hole to bury the animals in.
    • We used cement to plug the holes.
    • He managed to dig out a small snow hole.
    • I've got a chocolate-bar-sized hole in my stomach.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • big
    • deep
    • gaping
    • …
    verb + hole
    • bore
    • create
    • cut
    • …
    preposition
    • down a/​the hole
    • in a/​the hole
    • through a/​the hole
    • …
    phrases
    • full of holes
    • riddled with holes
    See full entry
    2.

    opening

  2.  
     [countable] a space or opening that goes all the way through something
    • We drilled a hole through the wall.
    • The car was riddled with bullet holes.
    • The old blankets were full of holes.
    • hole in something There were holes in the knees of his trousers.
    • There's a gaping hole in the ceiling and rain is pouring onto my desk.
    • She punched two holes in each sheet of paper.
    • through a hole The children climbed through a hole in the fence.
    Homophones hole | wholehole   whole
     
    /həʊl/
     
    /həʊl/
    • hole noun
      • She caught a fish through a hole in the ice.
    • whole adjective
      • He hadn't told us the whole story.
    • whole adverb (informal)
      • The series has taken her career to a whole new level.
    • whole noun
      • The camera moves and you see the whole of the palace.
    see also black hole, ozone hole
    Extra Examples
    • The fisherman cut a round hole in the ice of the lake.
    • He had worn a hole in the knees of his trousers.
    • I used a skewer to make an extra hole in my belt.
    • The missile had torn a jagged hole in the side of the ship.
    • The wall was full of bullet holes.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • big
    • deep
    • gaping
    • …
    verb + hole
    • bore
    • create
    • cut
    • …
    preposition
    • down a/​the hole
    • in a/​the hole
    • through a/​the hole
    • …
    phrases
    • full of holes
    • riddled with holes
    See full entry
    3.

    animal’s home

  3. [countable] the home of a small animal
    • a mouse hole
    • down a hole The story begins with Alice falling down a rabbit hole.
    compare foxhole, pigeonhole see also bolthole, hidey-hole, priest’s hole, rabbit hole, toad-in-the-hole, watering hole, Wookey Hole

    4. unpleasant place

  4. [countable, usually singular] (informal, disapproving) an unpleasant place to live or be in synonym dump
    • I am not going to bring up my child in this hole.
    see also hellhole

    5. in golf

  5. [countable] a hollow in the ground that you must get the ball into; one of the sections of a golf course with the tee at the beginning and the hole at the end
    • The ball rolled into the hole and she had won.
    • an eighteen-hole golf course
    • He liked to play a few holes after work.
    • She won the first hole.
    • She won by one hole.
    Topics Sports: ball and racket sportsb1

    6. fault/weakness

  6. [countable, usually plural] a fault or weakness in something such as a plan, law or story
    • I don't believe what she says—her story is full of holes.
    • hole in something He was found not guilty because of holes in the prosecution case.
    see also loophole, plot hole, security hole

    7. empty place/position

  7. [singular] hole (in something) a place or position that needs to be filled because somebody/something is no longer there
    • After his wife left, there was a gaping hole in his life.
    • Buying the new equipment left a big hole in the company's finances.
    8. Word OriginOld English hol (noun), holian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hol (noun) ‘cave’, (adjective) ‘hollow’, and German hohl ‘hollow’, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘cover, conceal’.
see also top-hole
Idioms
an ace in the hole (North American English)
(British English an ace up your sleeve)
  1. (informal) a secret advantage, for example a piece of information or a skill, that you are ready to use if you need to
burn a hole in your pocket
  1. if money burns a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it as soon as you have it
dig yourself into a hole
  1. to get yourself into a bad situation that will be very difficult to get out of
in a hole
  1. (informal) in a difficult situation
    • He had got himself into a hole and it was going to be difficult to get out of it.
in the hole
  1. (North American English, informal) owing money
    • We start the current fiscal year $30 million in the hole.
make a hole in something
  1. to use up a large amount of something that you have, especially money
    • School fees can make a big hole in your savings.
pick holes in something
  1. to find the weak points in something such as a plan, suggestion, etc.
    • It was easy to pick holes in his arguments.
a square peg (in a round hole)
  1. (informal) a person who does not feel happy or comfortable in a particular situation, or who is not suitable for it
See hole in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee hole in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: hole

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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