. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited 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 )
A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure.
I made a blind hole in the wall for a peg. I dug a hole and planted a tree in it.
c. 1606–1607 (date written) , William Shakespeare , “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks.
1879 , R[ichard] J[efferies] , chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher , London: Smith, Elder, & Co. , , →OCLC :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.
An opening that goes all the way through a solid body, a fabric, etc.; a perforation; a rent.
There’s a hole in my shoe. Her stocking has a hole in it.
1840 , Alfred Tennyson , Godiva :[ …] her palfrey’s footfall shot Light horrors thro’ her pulses: the blind walls Were full of chinks and holes ; and overhead Fantastic gables, crowding, stared: [ …]
( heading ) In games.
( 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.
( 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.
( 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.
( 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 .
( 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.
In the game of fives , part of the floor of the court between the step and the pepperbox .
( archaeology , slang ) An excavation pit or trench.
( figuratively ) A weakness ; a flaw or ambiguity .
I have found a hole in your argument.
2011 , Fun (lyrics and music), “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
( Can we verify (+ ) this sense?) ( informal ) A container or receptacle.
car hole ; brain hole
( physics ) In semiconductors , a lack of an electron in an occupied band behaving like a positively charged particle .
( computing ) A security vulnerability in software which can be taken advantage of by an exploit .
( slang , derogatory ) A person's mouth .
Just shut your hole !
( slang ) Any bodily orifice , in particular the anus .
( Ireland , Scotland , vulgar ) A vagina .
( informal , with "the") Solitary confinement , a high-security prison cell often used as punishment.
Synonym: box
1988 April 2, Ed Mead, “AIDS hysteria sweeps prison guards' union”, in Gay Community News , page 9:In late December a Washington State prisoner was involved in a scuffle with a guard who was trying to take him into the hole .
2011 , Ahmariah Jackson, IAtomic Seven, Locked Up but Not Locked Down :Disciplinary actions can range from a mere write up to serious time in the hole .
( slang ) An undesirable place to live or visit.
His apartment is a hole !
1887 , Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia , page 109 :I have often heard people say, "One can't live upon a view," and I have heard some of the most beautiful places called "awful holes ," simply because of the monotonous lives led in them.
( figurative ) Difficulty, in particular, debt.
If you find yourself in a hole , stop digging.
( graph theory ) A chordless cycle in a graph .
( slang , rail transport ) A passing loop ; a siding provided for trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track line to pass each other.
We’re supposed to take the hole at Cronk and wait for the Limited to pass.
( Canada , US , historical ) A mountain valley .
Jackson Hole
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
hollow in some surface
Adyghe: абан ( aban ) , гъуанэ ( ğʷanɛ )
Albanian: vrimë (sq) f
Aleut: hunax̂ , tatax̂
Apache:
Western Apache: o'i'án
Arabic: ( open spot in a thin surface ) ثَقْب m ( ṯaqb ) ; ( hollow in something deep ) حُفْرة f ( ḥufra )
Egyptian Arabic: حرق m ( ḥarʔ ) , خرم m ( ḵurm )
Hijazi Arabic: خُرْق m ( ḵurg ) , خُرْم m ( ḵurm ) , فَتْحة f ( fatḥa ) , حُفرة f ( ḥufra ) , ثُقْب m ( ṯugb )
South Levantine Arabic: خرم m ( ḵurm ) , خزق m ( ḵuzq )
Aragonese: forau
Armenian: անցք (hy) ( ancʻkʻ ) , ծակ (hy) ( cak )
Aromanian: gavrã f , guvã f
Assamese: গাঁত ( gãt ) ( bigger ) , ফুটা ( phuta ) ( smaller )
Asturian: furacu (ast) m , buracu (ast) m , fueyu m
Azerbaijani: deşik (az) , dəlik (az)
Bashkir: батынҡы урын ( batınqı urın ) ; соҡор ( soqor )
Belarusian: дзі́рка f ( dzírka )
Bengali: গর্ত (bn) ( gorto )
Bhojpuri: छेद ( chēd )
Bulgarian: ду́пка (bg) f ( dúpka ) , я́ма (bg) f ( jáma )
Burmese: တွင်း (my) ( twang: )
Catalan: forat (ca) m
Chechen: ӏуьрг ( ˀürg )
Cherokee: ᎠᏔᎴᏒᎢ ( atalesvi )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 窿 ( lung1 )
Mandarin: 孔 (zh) ( kǒng ) , 洞 (zh) ( dòng ) , 穴 (zh) ( xué )
Corsican: tufone
Crimean Tatar: teşik
Czech: díra (cs) f
Danish: hul (da) n
Dutch: gaatje (nl) n , gat (nl) n , holletje (nl) n , opening (nl) f
Egyptian: (qrrt f )
Erzya: варя ( vaŕa )
Esperanto: truo (eo)
Estonian: auk (et)
Evenki: саңар
Faroese: hol n
Finnish: kuoppa (fi) , kolo (fi)
French: creux (fr) m , trou (fr) m
Galician: burato (gl) m , buraco m , pía (gl) f , foca (gl) f
Georgian: ნახვრეტი ( naxvreṭi ) , ხვრელი ( xvreli )
German: Loch (de) n , Grube (de) f , Grübchen (de) n , Mulde (de) f , Vertiefung (de) f , Kerbe (de) f
Greek: τρύπα (el) f ( trýpa ) , οπή (el) f ( opí )
Ancient: ὀπή f ( opḗ ) , τρύπη f ( trúpē ) , τρύπημα n ( trúpēma ) , βόθρος m ( bóthros )
Greenlandic: putu
Hebrew: חור \ חֹר (he) m ( khor )
Hindi: छेद (hi) m ( ched ) , छिद्र (hi) m ( chidra )
Hungarian: lyuk (hu)
Icelandic: hola (is) f
Ido: truo (io)
Ilocano: abut
Indonesian: lubang (id)
Ingrian: reikä , uuttu
Ingush: ӏург ( ˀurg )
Irish: poll m
Italian: buco (it) m , pertugio (it) m , foro (it) m , cunicolo (it) m , fessura (it) f
Japanese: 穴 (ja) ( あな, ana )
Kapampangan: busbus
Karachay-Balkar: тешик ( teşik )
Karaim: tiešik
Kaurna: yapa
Kazakh: тесік ( tesık ) , жыртық ( jyrtyq )
Khakas: тизік ( tizìk )
Khmer: រូង (km) ( ruung ) , រន្ធ (km) ( rŭən )
Kikuyu: irima class 5
Korean: 구멍 (ko) ( gumeong )
Kumyk: тешик ( teşik )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: چاڵ ( çall )
Northern Kurdish: kun (ku)
Kyrgyz: тешик (ky) ( teşik )
Ladino: foyo
Lao: ຂຸມ (lo) ( khum ) , ຮູ ( hū )
Latin: cavum (la) n , forāmen n ; fovea f ( in the ground ) ; lacūna (la) f ( especially with water )
Latvian: bedre f , dobums m
Lingala: libúlú
Lithuanian: duobė f
Lombard: bus (lmo)
Macedonian: дупка (mk) f ( dupka )
Malay: lubang (ms)
Malayalam: തുള (ml) ( tuḷa ) , ദ്വാരം (ml) ( dvāraṁ ) , ഓട്ട (ml) ( ōṭṭa ) , സുഷിരം (ml) ( suṣiraṁ )
Manx: towl m
Maori: poka
Mongolian: нүх (mn) ( nüx )
Nanai: сангар ( saŋar )
Nogai: тесик ( tesik )
Norn: gad n
Norwegian: hull (no) n
Occitan: trauc (oc) m
Odia: ଛିଦ୍ର (or) ( chidra )
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: дира f ( dira )
Old Czech: dúpě f
Old Prussian: prālī f
Pashto: سورى m ( suráy, sóray ) , بغره f ( baǧára ) , غار (ps) m ( ǧār ) , منفذ m ( manfáz )
Persian: سوراخ (fa) ( surâx )
Plautdietsch: Loch (nds) n
Polabian: dară f
Polish: dziura (pl) f
Portuguese: buraco (pt) m , oco (pt)
Punjabi: ਮੋਰੀ f ( morī ) , ਮੋਰਾ m ( morā )
Quechua: t'uqu
Romanian: gaură (ro)
Russian: впа́дина (ru) f ( vpádina ) , я́ма (ru) f ( jáma )
Samoan: lua (sm)
Saterland Frisian: Gat n
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: отвор m , рупа f
Roman: otvor (sh) m , rupa (sh) f
Shor: тежик ( težik )
Sicilian: pirtusu (scn) m , purtusu (scn) m , bucu (scn) m
Skolt Sami: kååʹpp
Slovak: diera f
Slovene: luknja (sl) f
Southern Altai: тежик ( težik )
Spanish: agujero (es) m , hoyo (es) m , pozo (es) m , buso (es) m , forambre m , buraco m , huraco (es) m ; ( small ) hura (es) , hurera f ; ( in the ground ) hoya (es) f , foya f , socava (es) f , alcorque (es) m , cavia f ; horaco m
Old Spanish: foyo
Sranan Tongo: olo
Swedish: hål (sv) n
Tagalog: butas
Tajik: сурох ( surox )
Tamil: ஓட்டை (ta) ( ōṭṭai )
Tatar: чокыр (tt) ( çoqır ) ; батынкылык ( batınkılıq )
Thai: หลุม (th) ( lǔm ) , รู (th) ( ruu )
Tibetan: ཁུང་བུ ( khung bu ) , ས་དོང ( sa dong )
Tocharian B: kāre
Tofa: дэлік ( delik )
Turkish: delik (tr)
Turkmen: deşik
Tuvan: дежик ( dejik )
Ukrainian: ді́рка f ( dírka )
Urdu: چھید m ( ched )
Urum: тэшик ( tešik )
Uyghur: تۆشۈك ( töshük )
Uzbek: teshik (uz) , tuynuk (uz)
Venetan: bus (vec) m
Vietnamese: lỗ (vi)
Vilamovian: łöch m
Volapük: hog (vo)
White Hmong: qhov
Yakut: хайаҕас ( qayağas )
Yiddish: לאָך ( lokh )
Zazaki: qul f
Zhuang: congh
a through opening
Adyghe: абан ( aban ) , гъуанэ ( ğʷanɛ )
Arabic: ( open spot in a thin surface ) ثَقْب m ( ṯaqb ) ; ( hollow in something deep ) حُفْرة f ( ḥufra )
Armenian: անցք (hy) ( ancʻkʻ ) , ծակ (hy) ( cak )
Aromanian: gavrã f
Bashkir: тишек ( tişek )
Breton: toull (br)
Bulgarian: дупка (bg) f ( dupka )
Catalan: forat (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 窿 ( lung1 )
Cornish: toll m
Czech: díra (cs) f
Danish: hul (da) n
Dutch: holte (nl) f , gat (nl) n , opening (nl) f
Erzya: варя ( vaŕa )
Esperanto: truo (eo)
Finnish: reikä (fi) , aukko (fi)
French: trou (fr) m
Galician: buraco m , burato (gl) m
German: Loch (de) n , Öffnung (de) , Riss (de)
Greek: τρύπα (el) f ( trýpa ) , οπή (el) f ( opí )
Ancient: ὀπή f ( opḗ ) , τρύπη f ( trúpē )
Hindi: छेद (hi) m ( ched )
Hungarian: lyuk (hu)
Icelandic: hola (is) f , gat (is) n
Ido: truo (io)
Irish: poll m
Italian: buco (it) m
Japanese: 穴 (ja) ( あな, ana )
Khmer: រូង (km) ( ruung )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کون (ckb) ( kun )
Northern Kurdish: kun (ku)
Latin: forāmen n , apertūra (la) f ; hiātus m ( large )
Latvian: caurums (lv) m
Lithuanian: skylė f , anga (lt) f , kiaurymė f
Malay: lubang (ms)
Malayalam: ദ്വാരം (ml) ( dvāraṁ )
Nogai: тесик ( tesik )
Norwegian: hol (no) n
Bokmål: hull (no) n
Occitan: trauc (oc) m
Plautdietsch: Loch (nds) n
Polish: otwór (pl) m inan
Portuguese: buraco (pt)
Romanian: gaură (ro)
Russian: отве́рстие (ru) f ( otvérstije ) ; ды́рка (ru) f ( dýrka ) , дыра́ (ru) f ( dyrá ) ( coll. )
Slovene: luknja (sl) f
Southern Altai: тежик ( težik )
Spanish: hueco (es) m , abertura (es) f , brecha (es) f , foramen (es) m , portillo (es) m , horado (es) m , forado (es) m , tronera (es) f ( large ) , buhedera f , bufarda f
Swedish: hål (sv) n
Tatar: тишек (tt) ( tişek )
Venetan: bus (vec) m
Volapük: hog (vo)
Welsh: twll (cy) m
orifice (see anus etc. for specific body cavities)
Bulgarian: отвор (bg) m ( otvor )
Danish: hul (da) n
Dutch: lichaamsholte (nl)
Finnish: reikä (fi)
French: trou (fr) m
Galician: buraco m , burato (gl) m
Greek: τρύπα (el) f ( trýpa )
Irish: poll m , oscailt f , cuas m , gola m
Italian: orifizio (it) m , pertugio (it) m , cavità (it) f
Latin: forāmen n , ōs (la) n ; hiātus m ( large )
Malayalam: ദ്വാരം (ml) ( dvāraṁ )
Polish: otwór (pl) m inan
Portuguese: buraco (pt) m , orifício (pt) m , forame m
Russian: отве́рстие (ru) n ( otvérstije )
Slovene: luknja (sl) f
Spanish: orificio (es) m
Ukrainian: ді́́рка f ( dí́rka ) , очко́ n ( očkó )
place where a prisoner is kept
undesirable place
Bulgarian: дупка (bg) f ( dupka )
Czech: díra (cs) f
Dutch: (please verify ) de put (nl) m , (please verify ) zwart gat n
Finnish: loukko (fi)
Greek: τρύπα (el) f ( trýpa )
Hebrew: חֹר/חור (he) m ( ẖor )
Italian: buco (it) m , cesso (it) m
Latin: tugurium n , gurgustium n
Polish: dziura (pl) f , nora (pl) f , rudera (pl) f
Portuguese: buraco (pt) m , choça (pt) f
Russian: дыра́ (ru) f ( dyrá )
Slovene: luknja (sl) f
Spanish: zulo (es) m , tugurio (es) m , covacha f , cuartucho (es) m , tabuco (es) m , zaquizamí (es) m , chamizo (es) m , cuchitril (es) m , cochitril m
Swedish: håla (sv) c
Ukrainian: дира f ( dyra ) , захолу́стя n ( zaxolústja )
portion of a game of golf
Translations to be checked
Verb
hole (third-person singular simple present holes , present participle holing , simple past and past participle holed )
( transitive ) To make holes in (an object or surface).
Shrapnel holed the ship's hull.
( transitive , by extension) To destroy .
She completely holed the argument.
( intransitive ) To go into a hole.
1631 , Ben Jonson, The Staple of News , act IV, scene ii:Good master Picklock, with your worming brain, And wriggling engine-head of maintenance, Which I shall see you hole with very shortly! A fine round head, when those two lugs are off, To trundle through a pillory!
( transitive ) To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball or golf ball.
1799 , Sporting Magazine , volume 13 , page 49 :If the player holes the red ball, he scores three, and upon holing his adversary's ball, he gains two; and thus it frequently happens, that seven are got upon a single stroke, by caramboling and holing both balls.
Woods holed a standard three foot putt
( transitive ) To cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes in.
to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars
Derived terms
Translations
make holes
Arabic:
Moroccan Arabic: تقب ( tqəb )
Bashkir: тишеү ( tişew )
Bulgarian: пробивам (bg) ( probivam )
Catalan: foradar (ca)
Danish: lave hul , slå hul , punktere ( something inflated )
Dutch: doorboren (nl) , doorzeven (nl)
Finnish: läpäistä (fi) , rei’ittää (fi) , tehdä reikä
French: trouer (fr)
Galician: esfuracar , furar (gl)
German: lochen (de)
Icelandic: gera gat á
Portuguese: esburacar (pt)
Russian: дыря́вить (ru) impf ( dyrjávitʹ ) , продыря́вить (ru) pf ( prodyrjávitʹ )
Swedish: göra hål , slå hål , punktera (sv) ( something inflated )
Ukrainian: дірявти ( dirjavty ) , дзюра́вити ( dzjurávyty ) , продзюра́влювати ( prodzjurávljuvaty )
Walloon: trawer (wa)
cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes
Etymology 2
Adjective
hole (comparative holer or more hole , superlative holest or most hole )
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.
Misspelling of whole .
Anagrams
Czech
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
hole
inflection of hůl :
genitive singular
nominative / accusative / vocative plural
Etymology 2
Verb
hole
masculine singular present transgressive of holit
German
Pronunciation
Verb
hole
inflection of holen :
first-person singular present
first / third-person singular subjunctive I
singular imperative
Hausa
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium .)
Pronunciation
Verb
hōlḕ (grade 4 )
to relax , to enjoy oneself
Middle English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old English hāl .
Adjective
hole
healthy
safe
whole , complete , full
hol , ol , ole , hoal , hoale , hoel , hoil , hoille , holle , wholle
hal , hale , halle ( Northern )
References
Adverb
hole
wholly
References
Noun
hole (plural holes )
whole , entirety
health
remedy , cure
References
Descendants
Etymology 2
Inherited from Old English hol .
Noun
hole (plural holes or holen )
hole
Descendants
English: hole (see there for further descendants )
Scots: hole
Yola: hullès ( plural )
References
Etymology 3
Inherited from Old English hulu ; see hull for more.
Noun
hole (plural holes )
hull ( the outer covering of a fruit or seed )
hut , shelter
hull ( of a ship )
Descendants
References
Etymology 4
Verb
hole
past participle of helen ( “ to cover ” )
Synonym: heled
Etymology 5
Adjective
hole
Alternative form of hol ( “ hollow ” )
Etymology 6
Noun
hole (uncountable )
Alternative form of oile ( “ oil ” )
Etymology 7
Noun
hole (plural holen )
Alternative form of oule ( “ owl ” )
Etymology 8
Adjective
hole
Alternative form of holy ( “ holy ” )
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Derived from Old Norse hola .
Noun
hole f or m (definite singular hola or holen , indefinite plural holer , definite plural holene )
alternative form of hule
References
“hole” in The Bokmål Dictionary .
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Derived from Old Norse hola .
Pronunciation
Noun
hole f (definite singular hola , indefinite plural holer , definite plural holene )
cave
( anatomy ) cavity
den
Derived terms
References
“hole” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
Old English
Noun
hole
dative singular of hol
Pennsylvania German
Etymology
Inherited 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
to fetch
Slovak
Pronunciation
Noun
hole f
inflection of hoľa :
genitive singular
nominative / accusative plural
Sotho
Noun
hole class 17 (uncountable )
far away
Yola
Pronunciation
Verb
hole
past participle of helt
1867 , “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY , number 3, page 84 :Yith Muzleare had ba hole , t'was mee Tommeen, If Good-for-little had been buried , it had been my Tommy,
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