hole

hole

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of hole in English

English Online Dictionary. What means hole‎? What does hole mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /həʊl/, [hɔʊɫ]
  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /hɐʉl/, [hɔʊɫ]
  • (General American) IPA(key): /hoʊl/, [hoɫ]
  • Rhymes: -əʊl
  • Homophone: whole

Etymology 1

From Middle English hole, hol, from Old English hol (“orifice, hollow place, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol, from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“hollow space, cavity”), noun derivative of Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”), which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to hollow.

Noun

hole (plural holes)

  1. A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure.
  2. An opening that goes all the way through a solid body, a fabric, etc.; a perforation; a rent.
  3. (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.
    3. (baseball) The rear portion of the defensive team between the shortstop and the third baseman.
    4. (chess) A square on the board, with some positional significance, that a player does not, and cannot in the 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.
  4. (archaeology, slang) An excavation pit or trench.
  5. (figuratively) A weakness; a flaw or ambiguity.
  6. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (informal) A container or receptacle.
  7. (physics) In semiconductors, a lack of an electron in an occupied band behaving like a positively charged particle.
  8. (computing) A security vulnerability in software which can be taken advantage of by an exploit.
  9. (slang, derogatory) A person's mouth.
  10. (slang) Any bodily orifice, in particular the anus.
  11. (Ireland, Scotland, vulgar) Vagina.
  12. (informal, with "the") Solitary confinement, a high-security prison cell often used as punishment.
    Synonym: box
  13. (slang) An undesirable place to live or visit.
  14. (figurative) Difficulty, in particular, debt.
  15. (graph theory) A chordless cycle in a graph.
  16. (slang, rail transport) A passing loop; a siding provided for trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track line to pass each other.
  17. (Canada, US, historical) A mountain valley.
Synonyms
  • See also Thesaurus:hole
  • (solitary confinement): administrative segregation, ad-seg, block (UK), box, cooler (UK), hotbox, lockdown, pound, SCU, security housing unit, SHU, special handling unit
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Japanese: ホール (hōru)
  • → Korean: 홀 (hol)
  • Sranan Tongo: olo
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).
  2. (transitive, by extension) To destroy.
  3. (intransitive) To go into a hole.
  4. (transitive) To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball or golf ball.
  5. (transitive) To cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes in.
    to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars
Derived terms
  • holeable
  • holer
  • hole out
  • hole up
Translations

Etymology 2

Adjective

hole (comparative holer or more hole, superlative holest or most hole)

  1. Obsolete spelling of whole.
    • 1843, Sir George Webbe Dasent (translator), A grammar of the Icelandic or Old Norse tongue (originally by Rasmus Christian Rask)
      Such was the arrangement of the alphabet over the hole North.
  2. Misspelling of whole.

Anagrams

  • Hoel, OHLE, helo, ohel, oleh

Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈɦolɛ]

Etymology 1

Noun

hole

  1. inflection of hůl:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Etymology 2

Verb

hole

  1. masculine singular present transgressive of holit

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhoːlə/
  • Rhymes: -oːlə

Verb

hole

  1. inflection of holen:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
    3. singular imperative

Hausa

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /hóː.lèː/
    • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA(key): [hóː.lèː]

Verb

hōlḕ (grade 4)

  1. to relax, to enjoy oneself

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English hāl.

Adjective

hole

  1. healthy
  2. safe
  3. whole, complete, full
Alternative forms
  • hol, ol, ole, hoal, hoale, hoel, hoil, hoille, holle, wholle
  • hal, hale, halle (Northern)
References
  • “hōl(e, adj.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Adverb

hole

  1. wholly
Alternative forms
  • hol
References
  • “hōl(e, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Noun

hole (plural holes)

  1. whole, entirety
  2. health
  3. remedy, cure
Alternative forms
  • hol
References
  • “hōl(e, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Descendants

  • English: whole
  • Scots: hole, holl
  • Yola: holghe

Etymology 2

From Old English hol.

Noun

hole (plural holes or holen)

  1. hole
Alternative forms
  • hol, ol, ole, holle, hoil, houl, hul
Descendants
  • English: hole (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: hole
  • Yola: hullès (plural)

References

  • “hō̆l(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

From Old English hulu; see hull for more.

Noun

hole (plural holes)

  1. hull (outer covering of a fruit or seed)
  2. hut, shelter
  3. hull (of a ship)
Alternative forms
  • hol, holle, hul, hule, ule, hulle, ulle, hoile, huole
Descendants
  • English: hull
  • Scots: huil

References

  • “hol(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

  • holn

Verb

hole

  1. past participle of helen (“to cover”)
    Synonym: heled

Etymology 5

Adjective

hole

  1. Alternative form of hol (“hollow”)

Etymology 6

Noun

hole (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of oile (“oil”)

Etymology 7

Noun

hole (plural holen)

  1. Alternative form of oule (“owl”)

Etymology 8

Adjective

hole

  1. Alternative form of holy (“holy”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse hola.

Noun

hole f or m (definite singular hola or holen, indefinite plural holer, definite plural holene)

  1. alternative form of hule

References

  • “hole” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

  • hòle

Etymology

From Old Norse hola.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /²hoːlə/

Noun

hole f (definite singular hola, indefinite plural holer, definite plural holene)

  1. a cave
  2. a cavity (anatomy)
  3. a den

Derived terms

  • augehole

References

  • “hole” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German holen, from Old High German holon, from Proto-West Germanic *holōn (“to fetch”). Compare German holen, Dutch halen. Related to English haul.

Verb

hole

  1. to fetch

Slovak

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈɦɔle]

Noun

hole f

  1. inflection of hoľa:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/accusative plural

Sotho

Noun

hole class 17 (uncountable)

  1. far away

Yola

Verb

hole

  1. Alternative form of helt

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 47

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.